Warner Bros’ Black Adam was released in theaters two months ago, and while it received mixed reactions from fans and critics, lead star Dwayne Johnson neither faltered nor lost hope for the franchise. The wrestler-turned-actor openly admitted that the movie has been a passion project for more than a decade.
Despite the unfortunate cancellations of many DC projects over the previous year, Black Adam managed to ignite the interest of the fans with The Rock’s attempt at introducing a “new era of the DC Universe.” The actor also brought back one of the most beloved superheroes of all time, Superman, only for DC Studios CEO James Gunn to extinguish fans’ revived hope.
Dwayne Johnson Shares How He Discovered His Passion For Black Adam
In his previous interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Dwayne Johnson talked about Black Adam and its significance to his career. Johnson explained:
“But here’s the thing, I got one shot with Black Adam. It’s the most important movie of my career, and I pushed all chips in. I worked my ass off, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”
The Rock was quite confident that Black Adam would finally make the pivotal turn and bring a whole new team of superheroes. In fact, the movie introduced the Justice Society of America, with new characters such as Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone. Johnson also added:
“We want to build out the DC Universe, introduce Black Adam, introduce other characters, as well, in the JSA. I have been saying this is a new era in the DC Universe that I love.”
Johnson also shared how he discovered he wanted to play Black Adam. The action star saw the likeness of himself in the character and had since then vowed to portray Black Adam and bring him to life.
“I saw the Black Adam comic, he was intense, he looked badass. He had brown skin, And I thought, ‘Wait a second. That’s me. I want to be that guy.”
Despite Black Adam not finishing victorious at the box office and losing Warner Bros a lot of money, Dwayne Johnson remained professional and friendly in his interviews and statements over the past months.
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The Rock Believes Black Adam Is His “One Shot” In The DC Universe
Dwayne Johnson knew that the movie was a risky decision, especially because it is an introduction of a new character. This is what he meant when he said he had one shot with the movie. In his interview with Total Film, The Rock said:
“After being in this business for many years, Black Adam is a once-in-a-career character. You’ve got to dive headfirst into the fire. Because, also, the superhero genre has been busted wide open in the greatest of ways in our business, and has been responsible for some of the greatest movies ever made.”
Indeed, the actor took everything he got to make the movie possible. The Rock believed that this passion project would have conquered a giant superhero company. In the end, the new management of DC Studios took away all of Dwayne Johnson’s plans for the Black Adam franchise.
Black Adam is now streaming on HBO Max.
Source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Total Film
RELATED: Black Adam Releases HBO Max Debut After Disappointing Box-Office Run Amidst Sequel Cancelation
