'Shazam!' updates: David F. Sandberg to direct; Dwayne Johnson's 'Black Adam' will not appear

The titular character in the upcoming "Shazam!" movieDCcomics/characters/shazam

It looks like the "Shazam!" movie is already gearing up for pre-production as it was recently announced that David F. Sandberg is going to helm the production. 

It was already known to many that Warner Bros. and DC are set on making a "Shazam!" solo movie, however, not much else is known apart from Black Adam getting his own movie as well. To the surprise of fans, it seems that "Shazam!" is going to be the next movie in the DC Extended Universe that could be out soon. 

Sandberg, who directed "Lights Out" and "Annabelle: Creation" revealed his participation in the movie in a comment as well as at a panel during Comic-Con International. Director Kevin Smith asked him if there was any project that he could talk about, and Sandberg responded with "Shazam," surprising Smith as well as the rest of the fans in attendance during the panel. Sandberg revealed that the movie was coming along very well, and that he was happy about the script.  

If fans were still expecting Dwayne Johnson to appear in "Shazam!" as the character's greatest enemy Black Adam, then they might be disappointed. In an interview with Yahoo Movies, DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns revealed that while Dwayne Johnson is still on board as Black Adam in the solo movie for the character, he will not be appearing in "Shazam!."

"We haven't announced any casting yet, but Dwayne isn't going to be in this movie," said Johns. "He's still doing "Black Adam" but he won't be in "Shazam.""

Johns will also be developing "Black Adam" at the same time as "Shazam!" which is expected to go into production by early 2018 for an early 2019 premiere, much to the popular assumption that the DCEU movies that will come next are "The Batman," "The Flash," as well as "Gotham City Sirens" and the sequel to "Suicide Squad."