Written By: Nick Poulimenakos

While the DCEU has been seen as divisive as a whole, Suicide Squad is generally considered to be the worst of the bunch. The film was praised for its performances and music but heavily criticized for its disjointed story and choice of villain. That didn’t stop fans from going to the theatre however as the film went on to make $740+ million at the global box office and a sequel was quickly greenlit not long after. Now, according to one rumor, we may have our first details regarding the upcoming sequel.

In an exclusive report by The Wrap, Dwayne Johnson, who has been cast as the villain/anti-hero Black Adam in the DCEU, will be the main antagonist for the villain-centric sequel:

“The insiders told The Wrap that the current plan for the sequel is for the members of Suicide Squad to be tasked with tracking down a weapon of mass destruction. That weapon? Black Adam himself. The villain is best known in DC Comics as the main nemesis of superhero Shazam.”

Fans will recall that Johnson was one of the earliest casting choices in the DCEU as he was announced as the franchise’s Black Adam years ago. While it was generally assumed that the character would appear in the Shazam! solo film, DC was quick to debunk this rumor and said that Johnson would in fact be getting his own solo film instead before appearing in a Shazam! feature. Now it seems like we will be seeing Johnson in a DC film a lot sooner.

As of now, the only confirmed aspect for Suicide Squad 2 is the director, Gavin O’Connor. It is rumored that most of the original cast will be returning, including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as The Joker and Will Smith as Deadshot. The film was apparently supposed to enter production in early 2018 but due to Smith’s busy schedule, The Wrap suggests that the sequel will begin shooting around October 2018.

Johnson has already teased big things to come for his classic DC character saying in an interview with Fandango:

“We have a really cool surprise for Black Adam that I can’t reveal, in terms of where we will see Black Adam being introduced.”

If that surprise is a role in Suicide Squad 2, that would absolutely catch fans off guard.

Personally, I’m not sure what to think of this news. Suicide Squad is a team of villains tasked with operations the government doesn’t really want to get involved with. The film was praised for its character dynamic but having a villain like Enchantress was critically panned. It was seen by many as dumb choice to have a villain who shoots guns and another who throws boomerangs to go up against an ancient sorceress. Having Black Adam facing off with Task Force X might yield similar results.

Long after the original film’s release, director David Ayer posted on Twitter about how he wished he would have made Suicide Squad more grounded by having The Joker be the main villain. But with Black Adam taking centre stage in the sequel, it seems that DC is more concerned with using the star power of Dwayne Johnson instead of giving the team of villains a threat they can legitimately fight.

That being said, I’m sure that if Black Adam is the main villain, then DC would add a few new members to the Squad so that the fight against the corrupted ancient Egyptian predecessor to Captain Marvel won’t be so lopsided. Either way, take this all with a grain of salt for now, as DC has yet to comment on The Wrap’s report.

Justice League is set to arrive in theatres on November 16, 2017 while DC’s Shazam! makes its debut in April 2019.