Dwayne Johnson's Teasing of 'Shazam' Role Sounds Very Familiar

For years Warner Bros. has been looking for the right DC Comics project for Dwayne Johnson to be a part of. So we've heard he was attached to play Lobo at one point for director Brad Peyton, but that never happened. He's been rumored as the guy to replace Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern, too, however the longest-running story has him in a movie based on Shazam aka Captain Marvel. That latter one seems to be winning out, especially in light of recent comments made by Johnson basically confirming a role in a DC movie. In fact, here are those specific comments where he references a certain Man of Steel...

"The first quality we were looking for was that he had to be extremely complex and have a lot going on. What that does for me as an actor and the studio is it gives us space that we can explore; his complexities. The other quality was that he had to – the character we were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life. Then what that does again as an actor, it gives me a little bit of space, and we talked about personality. It just gives me a chance to put an imprint into his personality, with the set of tools that I could bring to the table and put a very unique twist on his personality, but still pay homage to who he is. The third thing – and most important – is he had to be a badass mother[frick]er, OK, and on a Superman level of power, where [he] could throw down. In those three qualities, I’m happy we’ve found that character." 

Right, and the assumption then was that he was talking about Shazam. So compare that with what Johnson has now told Total Film and has the Internet all in a tizzy...

"I will say this. There's a character out there that we're going to announce very soon that I'm going to play, and I'll just say this: the power of Superman and it's not Green Lantern..."

He goes on to coyly add,

"Just say the word."

Would that word happen to be SHAZAM!!!? Really though, his comments aren't much different from what he said months ago. Why the big deal now? Perhaps it's the proximity to Comic-Con that has stirred everyone up, expecting Warner Bros. to trot Johnson out on stage to make the big announcement. That could very well happen. I guess we'll find out soon enough.  It's worth noting that back when the Shazam rumors first surfaced it was for him to play the villain, Black Adam. Perhaps things have changed.