Black Adam was clearly a project Dwayne Johnson was excited about, and he spent years hyping it up on social media. Vowing to change the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe, little did we know the actor was also making moves behind the scenes to take control of the DCEU and build an entire slate of projects, including a new Superman solo outing, around his anti-hero.
In the wake of Black Adam's release last October, The Rock, who is used to receiving incredibly positive coverage from the press, has seen the tide turn again him.
Becoming a subject of ridicule after leaking financial data to Deadline in an attempt to make Black Adam appear profitable, Johnson has recently been the focus of many negative pieces from Hollywood trades who once had nothing bad to say about him. Throw in backlash from fans and entertainment sites questioning his leading-man status, and the actor has been hit hard.
It may take Johnson a while to recover from Black Adam, and his time as the anti-hero has already ended. Now, he appears to have addressed the backlash with a video in which he talks about "having the guts to fail."
You can check out his comments in full by watching the 90-second video below, but it's clear what the former pro wrestler is referring to when he says, "I'm just having the guts to fail, around every corner, and that leads my decisions. That allows me to take big swings, get my ass kicked on some of them, fail at some of them. But then, also succeed at some of them."
Black Adam was a critical and commercial disappointment but had it succeeded, the DCEU/DCU might look vastly different.
Spin-offs revolving around characters like Hawkman and Dr. Fate were thought to be in the works, while Black Adam and Man of Steel sequels would have eventually led to the two squaring off in a crossover event. Oddly, Johnson seemingly had no desire to involve Zachary Levi's Shazam in those plans.
Check out his apparent response to these recent reports below.