Dwayne Johnson has been very enthusiastic about the response that he was getting as a major driving force of DC, well until his debut as Black Adam. In the history of comic book movies, no other project has managed to whip up the audience into such a spectacular frenzy and then crash land in the steaming rubble merely weeks after release. The DC universe belongs to James Gunn now and there has never been such a territorial declaration of authority as when the director stepped in to take charge. Sadly, however, Black Adam began to flail in the box office long before Gunn made The Rock’s exit official.
But even amidst all the drama, the truth that hits the fans like a knock to the diaphragm is that Dwayne Johnson has been preaching, advocating, promoting, and loudly vocalizing his love for DC ever since he held the power to turn heads and command an audience. All of it – these 15 years of futile labor of love – then truly makes for an excellent tragedy.
Dwayne Johnson Calls For an Avengers v Zombie Rock Fight
When the 2018 sci-fi action thriller, Rampage, adapted from the eponymous video game and starring Dwayne Johnson in the lead came out, the rumors of the actor rubbing the right shoulders at WB began gaining some steam. Up until then, his fanboy-like enthusiasm for all things DC was just that: a keen interest in emulating Superman’s philosophy and expressing his love for the DC’s IP.
But his enthusiasm also came paired with the will to promote the CBM franchise, even though the two entities were in no way connected or working in collaboration with each other. During his promotional tour of Rampage, the actor began to envision a plan on how to get his faux rivals, the Avengers, for a showdown against a zombie/Black Adam version of himself.
“That’s what I wanna do… I wanna be that zombie, and actually, I want to be the zombie that kills all the heroes on the show, and then they’re all gone, and the show just becomes about me – the zombie – and all my other zombie friends. How cool would that show be? And then you know what we’ll do? Then we bring in the Avengers… and then Black Adam goes like, with lightning, ‘Bang! Dead motherf**kers.’”
In an ironic twist of fate, the tentpole film of 2018, Avengers: Infinity War moving up the dates of its scheduled release also happened to affect the premiere of Dwayne Johnson’s Rampage, which further fueled the faux rivalry between the actor and Marvel franchise.
This, however, was not the first time that The Rock went out of his way to give the fans something to prattle about. On several occasions, whether press junkets or interviews or Hollywood star-studded events, Johnson had taken it upon himself to vocally promote DC and pit the franchise against the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to get the hype going and the masses milling in excitement.
The Rock’s Promising Rise and Disappointing Fall at DC
The actor, who insists on not being too far away from having “the personality of a 12-year-old,” who also happens to be the symbol of “megawatt manliness” according to Warner Bros. Pictures, and is currently the highest-paid actor in the world according to Forbes, has come a long way from the stingy shared apartment he used to live in during his short stint in the CFL. The very same CFL that after cutting him from the team sent The Rock home with a mere $7 to his name. This then gave the actor and businessman an idea that eventually led to the formation of Seven Bucks Productions and Siete Bucks Spirits (how’s that for a comeback?)
It is sad now to acknowledge the level of impact Johnson has had on the industry. Over the years, he has become representative of dreams coming true and it is no wonder that after repeatedly being humiliated and disappointed, Dwayne Johnson learned how it’s not the stars or people with deep pockets who control the industry but the devoted audience all around the globe. Giving the people what they want has been his mantra since his days in the ring. Unfortunately for The Rock, the same failed to work out at DC.
Black Adam is now available for streaming on HBO Max.
Source: YouTube | Abdul Wasay Khan
