Black Adam: The problem with Dwayne Johnson’s Captain America comparison

Dwayne Johnson’s comments comparing Black Adam’s box officer numbers to Captain America: The First Avenger could destroy future projects for the Man in Black. 

There is no doubt in this writer’s mind that Dwayne Johnson is the best action star of the past fifteen years. Most of his movies make a ton of money at the box office and they’re fun with a good amount of replay value. It only makes sense that a comic book company would jump at the opportunity to have play one of their characters. In this case, DC Comics tapped him to play Black Adam. However, this casting came over 15 years ago.

Over a decade later, DC Comics fans finally got to see the former WWE Superstar play Teth-Adam. Thankfully, the movie was an entertaining ride. More than that, there seemed to be a lot of potential with Dwayne Johnson and the Black Adam Franchise. The Rock went into the movie and did what he’s always done: Electrify the crowd (and the people he fought with lightning). Unfortunately, that may not be enough to keep the franchise going.

Black Adam was reportedly a flop at the box office. As Comic Book Resources points out, the movie made $390 million globally, but half of that goes to the theaters. Since there was a $195 million budget, that means they lost money in the end. That may not seem like a lot, but it could be enough for Warner Bros to move away from the idea of making another Black Adam movie. Even if there’s a chance the movie gets a sequel, Dwayne Johnson’s comments on social media have been dividing people, with some recent reports suggesting that it’s inaccurate information.

The mega star tweeted news that excited him, saying that he waited “to confirm with financiers” first but that Black Adam would “PROFIT between $52M-$72M. Fact.” He then went on to say:

"“At almost $400M worldwide we are building our new franchise step by step (first Captain America did $370M) for the DC future.”"

Black Adam vs Captain America

First of all, there have been some saying that you can’t compare the two but that’s not true as both were put in a similar situation: Black Adam and Captain America: The First Avenger both had to succeed. If they didn’t, their respective movie universes would have been in trouble.

Thankfully, for Marvel Studios, Captain America’s first movie was a huge success. With a budget of $140 million, the movie did $370 million at the box office. Taking away the possible $100 million to the theaters and that’s still a $30 million profit (if that’s a standard for movies). Now, if Dwayne Johnson’s information is correct, his project did make more money than Cap’s. However, he didn’t account for the time gap between releases.

Captain America: The First Avenger came out in 2011. According to The Hollywood Reporter the average movie ticket price was $7.93 in 2011. According to Indiewire, the average movie ticket costs $11 in 2022. That’s a difference of $3 and some change. That means the argument isn’t valid. Black Adam could have grossed less money if the ticket sales were the same as they were in 2011.

We also can’t overlook the fact that Captain America was launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as its fifth movie), Black Adam is the eleventh DCEU film.

Black Adam’s future

Warner Bros. Discovery has been clearing the DC Comics deck. A lot of their shows and movies have been canceled or production has flat out been stopped. Initial production on Batgirl had been finished and the HBO Max movie still got the ax.

If Black Adam hasn’t performed in the way that Warner Bros. Discovery wanted, it could be a red flag for the franchise. Dwayne Johnson bringing attention to the box office numbers didn’t help, especially if the information is inaccurate like the recent reports have alluded to. This is a moment where not all press is good press.

DC fans have been longing to see Black Adam face off against Henry Cavill’s Superman. A fight that would bring a ton of people to the theaters. There’s also the possible battle between Teth-Adam and Shazam. If a Black Adam sequel ends up on the chopping block (as it’s rumored to be), we may never see either of those fights in the future.

What do you think, readers? Could a Black Adam sequel still happen? Let us know in the comments below.