In a new interview, Dwayne Johnson reflected on the DC Universe overhaul that derailed his plans for a Black Adam-Superman crossover movie. Speaking with Variety, Johnson opened up about how he's come to peace about how Black Adam performed at the box office and his current standing within the franchise.
"All that I can do, and all that we could do when we were making Black Adam, was to put our best foot forward and surround ourselves with the best people and deliver the best movie we could," Johnson said. "Our audience score was in the 90s. Critics took a couple shots, but that's just the business of it."
Despite the film's success with audiences, Black Adam failed to hit the $400-million mark at the global box office. After the movie's release, new DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran were announced as the new architects of the DC Universe, effectively killing Johnson's hopes and plan for a Black Adam-Superman crossover.
Johnson compared the situation to a new owner taking over a pro football team and bringing in new staff, saying, "Not my coach, not my quarterback. I'm going to go with somebody new." Johnson had laid the groundwork for his own DC Universe, where the relationship between Black Adam and Superman would be mapped out across multiple films. However, with Gunn and Safran taking over, Johnson's plan was no longer feasible. Again, via Variety, Johnson told fans in December that Black Adam will not be in Gunn and Safran's first chapter of storytelling.
Despite the setback, Johnson and his production company Seven Bucks will continue exploring how Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters. He still holds out hope for a crossover with Henry Cavill's similarly displaced Superman--publicly, Cavill announced his return as Superman on social media after Black Adam's opening weekend in October 2022. But, two months later, Gunn announced that Cavill would not be Superman in the new DC Universe.
GameSpot's Top Movies of 2022
See More
David Wolinsky on Google+