It's been rumoured on multiple occasions that Moana star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is in the running to play the MCU's Apocalypse. At this point in his career, the professional wrestler turned actor arguably needs Marvel Studios a lot more than they need him.
It's been a challenging few years for Johnson. Once one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors and a certified box office draw, he tried and failed to take over the DCEU with Black Adam. Later, his sitcom, Young Rock, was cancelled, and attempts to relaunch the XFL fell flat. With that, The Rock returned to WWE, and despite having a largely successful run, many fans turned on him when he tried to hijack the WrestleMania main event.
When the prospect of an Oscar came his way thanks to The Smashing Machine, Johnson dropped WWE like it was hot, earning more scorn from fans who argued that he'd left John Cena's feud with Cody Rhodes in a complete mess after, in-storyline, orchestrating Cena's "heel" turn. He failed to secure an Academy Award, got a rare win with Moana 2, but is now facing another box office flop with this weekend's live-action Moana.
So, yeah, a lot has happened. That could go some way in explaining a new rumour from insider @MyTimeToShineH, who reports that "The Rock is up to play Apocalypse in the MCU."
What does this actually mean? Well, it sounds like he's finally interested in taking on the role, presumably in a future X-Men movie from Marvel Studios. Of course, there's always a chance he could show up in Avengers: Secret Wars. For now, that's a mystery to us, as is whether he'll ever officially sign up to play En Sabah Nur.
Physically, Johnson certainly looks the part and could play a convincing Apocalypse who isn't brought to life with Thanos-style motion capture. As we've established, he's also a huge star in desperate need of a win.
Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Jackson Guice, Apocalypse first appeared in X-Factor #5 in 1986. The ancient mutant believes in the concept of "survival of the fittest" and hopes to bring about the evolution of mutantkind by any means necessary, often through destructive and genocidal means.
Ultimately, Apocalypse sees himself as a God-like figure and seeks to impose his vision of mutant supremacy upon the world. Along the way, he's assembled various groups of mutant followers, typically known as the "Four Horsemen," to serve his purposes. Oscar Isaac previously played the villain in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse.
Would you like to see The Rock take a crack at a Marvel role with the MCU's Apocalypse? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, and stay tuned for more on Jake Schreier's X-Men reboot as we have it.