The wheels are a-turning once more in the New Year. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is purported to be up for a role with WB studios.
He's gotten some pretty iconic (Hercules) and some studio-popcorn (The Fast and Furious) franchise roles recently and love it or not, he's grown leaps and bounds from 'The Scorpion King'. Is he quality as a lead? Not to me, but he's an intimidating chap to have bolster your supporting cast. Just ask Vin Diesel.
Picture him alongside Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck. Epic, right? He's surly, muscular and a general badass. Regal, dominating, intimidating and he bows before no one. Let me put it to you this way - in the wake of the New 52, he's made for the Justice League film. Does he have the verbose tact to play someone I'd like him to play? Darkseid? Maybe not...but if Marvel passed on him fighting Groot Diesel, then Snyder could well hit jackpot having Rocky Darkseid (and what's the Source Wall made out of?) battling the likes of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and such.
Now, is he Cyborg or Martian Manhunter? Vic Stone would be younger (a la Micheal B. Jordan) and I think our alien requires a more distinguished, established older head (Chiwetel Ejiofor or Channing Tatum)...
I kid on the Tatum. That jab aside, Rocky's star power. He's now perched to bring boots and a$$es to the seats and make the box-office crumble. His charisma is much akin to his WWE/WWF days in Hollywood. Granted he still isn't the best lead, he's a key influencer on the younger generation of movie-goers.
John Stewart perhaps? After that Ryan Reynolds debacle, only Uatu knows how they'll reshape the Lantern on the big-screen but as a lot of us do connect with Stewart from the animated series, there's still a big disconnection where Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner may be ahead in the pecking order. They do have more background and fodder than John, who seems to be portrayed more as a soldier, which I admit, doesn't do him justice as he's a pretty interesting character - selfless, altruistic and stoic. I've heard Lobo mentioned but that character just doesn't seem (much like Captain Marvel) a fit to what Goyer and Snyder may have envisioned to rival Kevin Fiege and his cohorts. Black Adam? Well, magic requires something to unfold...in a new franchise...and throwing him in off the cuff, may be too wild a card.
Now, let me pull a fast one on ya. I think he's a great pick for Aquaman. Blonde hair? He ain't Caucasian? Please...don't lynch me as I write this. Let me explain. Aquaman was a character than many said...'sucked'. Johns has taken the New 52 and worked his Green Lantern magic with Ivan Reis...and made Aquaman pretty solid a story (and I'll go on record saying, he always was. He just had some terrible handlers recently). This New 52 arc is ideal to introduce Rock as Aquaman - a King apart, torn asunder by his people and their sub-machinations - and just picture him telling the other JL members to piss off...it's meant to be!
Aquaman was left out Justice League: War so maybe he's getting fine-tuned for the big-screen? Maybe, I'm just hopped up on caffeine. Aquaman doesn't have that big or loyal a fan base in my opinion. I think there's room to subvert his introduction to the film-verse. Affirmative action? Fists in the air for minorities? Well, with this detached loyalty, I think there's leeway for WB to gamble. And why not on Aquaman? He'll always be support to the Trinity. Always. The fact that Marvel is yet to tackle Namor and the fact that it'll be fanboys fighting over THANOS v DARKSEID pretty soon...leaves the field open for this next point.
WB can make the Aquaman-verse their version of 'Thor'. Look what Marvel did. Now, WB can get the rare chance to one-up their rivals and make this an Avatar-esque spectacle because I've read enough Aquaman books to know...there is infinite potential. And again, there's a lot of room to play and subvert and strike the right balance with lore, canon and studio-massaging. Years back, I did an editorial on Hardy or Cavill being the next Superman...and a few months later, I was right. I had no sources. I just went on rumors and critical analysis. I employed this here. There's star-power and a franchise that's open to build. The scope of what could be Aquaman...is majestic. I think Rocky Maivia has one more kingly role in him. If you smell what I'm cooking. Sorry, just had to!
HAPPY NEW YEAR BTW! MAY ODIN BLESS US ALL!
Cheers.