Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s efforts to promote Black Adam as the savior of the DCU and the final blow to all of the franchise’s problems ended up bearing no fruit at all. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes came after post-production when Warner Bros. decided the release date to be just a few weeks before the MCU’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Regardless, the eleventh installation in the DCU still hasn’t been able to match the commercial success that Wakanda Forever amassed, and it’s only a testament to how badly the DCU has fared in major releases in comparison to the MCU. But it would be stupid, and a bit inconsiderate, to think that DC didn’t give their all with Black Adam.
Black Adam’s Reshoots Still Didn’t Save The Day
Problems in the DCU and its major releases aren’t something new or surprising. The skewed release of Justice League following Zack Snyder’s departure during post-production or the controversial public displays of the lead actor of the upcoming The Flash movie Ezra Miller- and so on are a highlight of the DCU’s many problems.
The latest DCU release, led by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, is one of the many releases whose production and post-production went smooth (or did it?), but still didn’t manage to meet expectations.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, after the filming of Black Adam finished and the eventual test-screening phase came about for quality checks, problems arose. The initial cut didn’t get the approval of the audience and eventually led to the movie undergoing reshoots.
This move would cause the initial budget of the antihero movie to plummet from $190 million to about $260 million, and the reshoots would take over 20 days to complete. The movie was then seen as being “inordinately expensive”, the budget had now increased by 36%, effectively earning it the title of being the third-most expensive DC movie in history.
Will Black Adam Be A Part Of The New DCU?
Black Adam‘s disappointing commercial performance, taking into consideration the huge budget it was given, is enough for any reasonable movie studio head to not bother with the IP anymore.
Regardless, Dwayne Johnson’s journey in the DCU had just started, and it’s ending even sooner. But will fans be able to see the former WWE wrestler ever star in the role of the popular DC antihero ever again?
Johnson did assure fans in a statement posted on Tuesday that his character indeed has no future in the “first chapter of storytelling” as planned by new DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran.
But he also confirms that DC and Seven Bucks (a production company founded by The Rock) will “continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters”
So fans will have to wait for Gunn and Safran to finish off their first chapter for their planned vision of the DCU, and then ponder the possibility of another Black Adam-related project. Until then, they’re gonna have to cross their fingers and hope that the character makes a cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Black Adam is currently available for streaming on Apple TV.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
