Dwayne Johnson has tried his absolute best to bring the DC Universe back on its feet after years of humiliation. This has happened not only by its rival who everyone knows is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also by its own releases (even major ones like Black Adam) which have underperformed both commercially and critically.
However, it cannot be said that the former WWE legend did not give his all in trying to bring the DCU back into the big leagues again. But some fresh piece of news has just dropped, and it’s pointing the finger of blame toward Johnson for doing nothing for this one DC movie which really contradicts all the effort he has put into making the franchise great again.
Dwayne Johnson’s Conflicting Support For Everything DC
Dwayne Johnson became the face of one of DC Universe’s biggest antiheroes in 2019 when he announced the release of Black Adam. This was followed by a huge campaign from the man himself, to get the DCU back on its feet.
As could be seen in his efforts to bring back Henry Cavill as Superman (canceled) and promote Black Adam heavily (which underperformed beyond expectations earning $391 million against a $195 budget plus $40 million in reshoots), The Rock really tried his all- or did he?
According to Variety, the San Andreas star had done barely anything to promote the animated DC movie DC League of Super-Pets, preceding its release in 2022, despite having pushed for a producing credit on the movie. An insider told Variety that
“His demands increased and the returns just weren’t there.”
What makes this situation a whole lot more complicated is that it just seems like he was conflicted about the amount of commitment he wanted to give to DC. According to Variety once again, the 50-year-old actor had done way more to promote a movie that isn’t even connected to the DCU!
As reported, he was paid a handsome fee of $22 million to promote the action-comedy movie, earning $1 million per promotional post, either on Instagram or Twitter.
This disparity in commitment towards the DCU is the biggest question here- did he really do his best to help restore the franchise to its former glory, or was it all just for money?
Noah Centineo Credits Dwayne Johnson For Amazing Time Filming Black Adam
Sadly we won’t be seeing Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson don the name of Teth Adam for quite some time, all thanks to how it simply didn’t live up to the bar that it set up for itself.
This is, as Johnson said in a Twitter post a few weeks ago, only momentary, because his character did not make it into the ‘first chapter’ of the planned revamp of the DCU by co-head James Gunn and Peter Safran.
But if there’s one person that’s gonna remember the former wrestler for how friendly and gentle he is with everything, it’s the Atom Smasher actor Noah Centineo! Johnson’s co-star in Black Adam, during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, gave due credit to the actor (as well as the whole crew) for a lot of things-
“He set the tone, and not just the cast, but everyone involved in it. We were constantly going to dinners and spending time with each other, and I will take that with me for the rest of my life, let alone the lessons and working with such iconic and deeply experienced and talented actors, our DP Lawrence Sher, our director [Jaume Collet-Serra], but it was the heart of that film for me that I’ll take with me forever. And I’m so grateful to have been a part of it.”
It must be great to work with someone who already has a clear understanding of how making blockbuster movies work because it’s not an easy job to stay at the top of Hollywood’s hierarchy and still be this sweet and humble to everyone.
Black Adam is currently available for streaming on Hulu and HBO Max.
