Three years after Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's foray into the DC universe, the superstar has finally spoken about the DCU. Johnson was already a massive star by the time he stepped into the superhero world with his role as Black Adam in the DCEU. However, shortly after the movie came out to disappointing critical and financial reception, James Gunn rebooted the DCU, and Johnson's Black Adam was no longer part of the universe's future.
When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about his DC adventure, Johnson expressed a fondness for the movie. In addressing the current DCU, which followed, Johnson simply said he would "Wish that universe well" and is ready to move on to what's next. The comments all but confirm Johnson is done in the world of DC for the foreseeable future.
Despite the failure of Black Adam being perceived as a massive misstep in Johnson's career, and one that severely hurt his stature as a major box office star, the actor's career has certainly bounced back. This year saw Johnson earned the strongest reviews of his career for the sports biopic The Smashing Machine. Despite the movie also not being a big box office hit, it represented a career shift for Johnson as he became seen as a very talented actor.
Johnson's reference to the DCU is layered, as there was reportedly plenty of drama behind the scenes with his scrapped plans for Black Adam. However, Gunn's Superman has solidly launched the cinematic universe, and The Rock has an exciting new chapter ahead of him. While Johnson and DC may never cross paths again, they can have their own successes to come.
Dwayne Johnson had big plans for Black Adam - and that was part of the problem
Dwayne Johnson always seemed like an actor who was tailormade for the superhero genre. It was a little surprising that he eventually decided on playing the little-known anti-hero in the Shazam universe with Black Adam. However, regardless of the popularity of the character, Johnson was determined to make Black Adam a pivotal part of the DCEU.
In development of the movie and leading up to its release, Johnson continuously suggested that Black Adam would bring about a shift in the power dynamics of the DC universe. With most of the interest in the struggling DCEU focused on Superman, Batman, and the other icons, it was surprising that Johnson was touting this B-level character as being the next big thing.
Johnson's desire to be the most important character in the DCEU also reportedly caused issues behind the scenes. While Black Adam was meant to be the antagonist of Shazam, Johnson wanted to make him more substantial by rewriting him as a rival to Superman. Johnson even pushed for Henry Cavill's return to the DCEU, despite the fact that James Gunn was already making plans to reboot the character with a new actor.
In the end, Johnson's passionate push to make Black Adam mainstream fell short. The movie's box office disappointment stung even more given all the publicity around his big promises. It was another embarrassing misstep for the cinematic universe. When it was announced shortly after that, Gunn would be rebooting the DCU. Black Adam's failure helped give the sense that this was a necessary move for the directionless franchise.
After being a box office juggernaut for several years, seeing his superhero plans fail in such a big way was a blow to Johnson's image. Not only was it proven that he couldn't sell a movie on his name alone, but the apparent behind-the-scenes drama also hurt the movie's reputation - even after it came out. However, the fact that Johnson has now made a massive shift in his career proves how savvy he is as a movie star and suggests he'll have plenty more success to come.