Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Black Adam was supposed to change the "hierarchy of power in the DC Universe." What we didn't realise is that the former pro wrestler was referring to his planned takeover of the brand.
Johnson intended to build the DC Universe around the Black Adam franchise, enlisting Henry Cavill to return as Superman for a "Black Adam vs. Superman" crossover. However, his solo movie opened to negative reviews and grossed only $393.5 million at the worldwide box office.
The actor attempted damage control, sharing profitability statements with Deadline and later tried getting fans on board with his vision by announcing a Hawkman movie. Ultimately, Warner Bros. Discovery felt differently, and DC Studios was formed...and one of the first things James Gunn and Peter Safran did was sever ties with The Rock (though they did hint at possibly working together in the future).
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Johnson reflected on his Black Adam experience and seemed to suggest that he's done with DC at this stage in his career.
"I feel like not only my time as a heel in the ring in wrestling, but it was almost like the anti-hero that eventually the Rock became," he shared. "I loved making Black Adam. We had a great time. Loved creating those characters and introducing other characters, as well, in that universe."
"Had a great time," Johnson added. "Wish that universe well. And on to others." Seeing as it's been over three years since Black Adam was released, this isn't overly surprising, and the Final Boss, as he's known in WWE, is looking to be taken more seriously in Hollywood.
However, his Oscar hopes recently took a blow when The Smashing Machine flopped at the box office. Reviews for Johnson's work were positive, albeit not as fawning as we typically see for an Academy Award hopeful. Still, he's not too concerned about it earning only $20 million on a $50 million budget.
"Smashing Machine completely changed my life in ways that I didn’t anticipate, because of what it represents. It represents, for me, listening to your gut, to your instinct, to that little voice. Sometimes in life, you think you’re capable of something, but you don’t quite know. And sometimes it takes people around you to go, 'Come on, you could do this.' Smashing Machine also represents a turning point in my career that I’ve wanted for a long time: for the first time in my career — 20 plus years since The Scorpion King came out — I made a film to challenge myself and to really rip myself open and to go elsewhere and disappear and transform. And not one time did I think about box office."
"Even though we didn’t do well [at the box office], or as well as we wanted to, it was okay because it just represented the thing I did for me. Maybe it was because I was an only child, but all the stuff that I had experienced as a kid and as a teenager — eviction, my mom tried to take her life two months after we got evicted and I pulled her out of the middle of the highway, a whole bunch of stuff happened — I had rejected exploring any of that on film. For years I would do these other films that were big and fun, Jumanji and Moana, with a happy ending, and I love that still. But what this represented was, ‘Oh wait, I can do the thing I love, which is to tell stories, but I could also take all this stuff and have a place to put it.'"
Would you like to see Johnson return to the DCU as Black Adam?