Dwayne Johnson’s name stands as a synonym for action in Hollywood. Snuggly fitting over 50 acting credits under his belt, The Scorpion King star made an ascending transition to the film industry following an equally successful stint at WWE. However, despite his immense star power, his recent movies have been a bit of a downer, especially after his controversial exit from the DCEU following the $393 million Black Adam.
The wrestler-turned-actor, 51, is currently dabbling in other genres, but there is one he has not touched on in a long time. That one being Johnson fighting alongside astonishingly humongous monsters, dwarfing his own size. The Rock last dealt with unnaturally gigantic monsters in his 2018 $428 million film Rampage, and despite its box-office success, the film is generally sidelined in his resume. So what went wrong?
Well, Johnson’s charisma actually needed a bit more of an explosive boost, much more than we had seen in Rampage. And only the massive kaiju of MonsterVerse holds that kind of firepower.
Dwayne Johnson’s Action and Godzilla’s Atomic Breath: The Perfect Incendiary Combo?
Although this might sound strange, both Dwayne Johnson and the MonsterVerse Godzilla movies have seen a similar trend. Almost all of his recent films, post-Hobbs & Shaw and Jumanji: The Next Level, have seen moderate to little success. Of course, the biggest slap on his face was the widely criticized Black Adam, with alleged reports of him trying to force the then DCEU into showcasing his anti-hero against Henry Cavill’s Superman. Thankfully, that never came to pass.
On the other hand, we have the esteemed MonsterVerse and its Godzilla films, which stem from Japan’s glorious black-and-white films featuring the King of the Monsters since way back in 1954. However, the MonsterVerse films, despite their out-of-the-world CGI and the coolest monster designs, have failed to capture their audience at full capacity. With the exception of the first Godzilla (2014) film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) received mixed reactions at best and fared way below the projected expectations at the box office.
There’s one peculiar case with MonsterVerse, however. The first film had more human interaction as compared to the sequels. Godzilla (2014) actually saw the protagonist, Ford Brody, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, engage in action sequences while the titular Kaiju fought the devilish MUTOs. The last two Godzilla films were heavily criticized for taking the human element away, leaving most of the action to Godzilla and his fellow Titans. And which Hollywood actor is best at delivering action-packed, muscular blows? You guessed it right! One of the world’s highest-grossing actors– Dwayne Johnson!
A Change in Lead Might Prove To Be a Breath of Fresh Air for Godzilla and The MonsterVerse
Ever since Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, 19, took over as the lead in MonsterVerse’s Godzilla films (Godzilla: King of the Monster, Godzilla vs. Kong), the movies have not received a lot of favorable reviews. And it is in no way her fault; she is an amazing actor in her own right. However, giving Godzilla the same treatment as King Kong, where the lead is reduced to a damsel in distress, isn’t going to work.
Godzilla is a force of nature that can cause earth-shattering calamities on his own, and his films need a protagonist that can go toe to toe with his climactic blasts, at least in a humane way. And Dwayne Johnson, having played a similar role in Rampage, stands as the best candidate to pull MonsterVerse ahead.
If that happens, it won’t be the first time a big franchise changes its lead while keeping its CGI-ed characters. The Transformers franchise did something similar in 2014 with Age of Extinction, introducing Mark Wahlberg as the new lead. However, the film and its sequel failed to capture the essence of the previous trilogy, which rocketed Shia LaBeouf to stardom.
We can only hope that MonsterVerse films will be able to accommodate Johnson’s on-screen dominance in the right way if he ever chooses to explore the Hollow Earth.
Stream Rampage on DIRECTV.
Also Read: Dwayne Johnson Can Finally Be in the $5.2B Franchise He Lost to Mark Wahlberg
