If there is one superstar in the Hollywood industry today that can make a diamond from a piece of coal with his hands, then Dwayne Johnson has to be the name that comes to mind. Being one of the most popular and influential celebrities for the current generation, the star has substantiated his name as the elite among the elites in the industry. Along with the charismatic persona, he also has the chops to make any film into a blockbuster.
With so many films under his belt that have broken the hundred million milestones with relative ease, it’s no wonder that he has been on every major outlet as the face of something, being the image that he made into a brand. But despite all of this, The Rock was still not able to make the same impact with his superhero debut in and as Black Adam in the DCEU, something that people are now taking a closer look at and realizing that it might just have been for the better future of the now James Gunn-led DCU.
How The Failure Of Black Adam Was A Boon For The Future Of The DCU
While it is true that Dwayne Johnson has a track record of making any film a successful project, or any business opportunity into a successful business venture, it is also very evident that he is focused on making his name known to the whole world with everything that he does. While it in itself is not a bad thing, on the contrary, to be exact. But what many from the audience and his fans have seen is the tendency of the San Andreas star to make everything about himself a tad bit too much.
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Many reports have indicated that before the release of the catastrophe known as Black Adam, Johnson was very optimistic about the future of his debut film, which he had also mapped out for the long run. Basically, what the former WWE star intended to do was create a separate sub-space for a Black Adam Universe inside the new DCU that CEO James Gunn and Peter Safran are now building up. This way, The Rock would take charge of the DCU if the film franchise was successful enough to be brought and represented into a bigger picture in the future.
We had seen this happen with the spin-off film from the Fast and Furious franchise with Johnson’s Hobbs and Shaw alongside Jason Statham, where the main focus was taken off from the Toretto Family and brought to the supporting characters. Then, as the film gained appreciation and box-office numbers, the Baywatch star took his leave from the main franchise. What was intended with Black Adam here though was to take over the current events of the DCU and recreate it around Johnson’s character, as was previously hinted by Seven Bucks Production executive Hiram Garcia.
Also, there was the revival of Henry Cavill’s Superman at the end of the film, which was also a tactic to engage the audience in the vision of the Black Adam Universe, something that was clashing with the vision of the broader future envisioned by Gunn. Thus, the Coup D’eTat would only have become a success if the film had performed beyond the expectations of WB, something that they did not manage to achieve. Thus, an entire franchise was saved from becoming a one-man vanity.
What’s Next For The DCU?
With the looming threat of The Rock now gone, CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have fast-tracked the initiation of the new era of DCU that the duo had envisioned. The upcoming The Flash has been foretold to reset the entire franchise to zero and bring in the new age of superheroes and supervillains from the pages of DC Comics. Along with the existence of The Batman and Joker staying in another timeline apart from the main one, not too many details are known about the future projects in the new DCU.
Black Adam, now streaming on HBO Max
