Over the past few months we’ve heard several comments from Dwayne Johnson suggesting that he’ll be joining DC’s fledgling Cinematic Universe with an upcoming superhero role, and now The Rock has been at it again at CinemaCon this past weekend, stating (via Comic Book Resources) that:
“So, you know, there’s been mutual interest with myself and DC for many years to find the right character. I, like everyone here in the room, love superheroes. So there’s been mutual interest with us for years, and we’ve been having ongoing discussions, myself and DC, for years about the right character, what the right character would be. That’s another thing, too: It had to be right.
“The first quality we were looking for was that he had to be extremely complex and have a lot going on. What that does for me as an actor and the studio is it gives us space that we can explore; his complexities. The other quality was that he had to – the character we were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life. Then what that does again as an actor, it gives me a little bit of space, and we talked about personality. It just gives me a chance to put an imprint into his personality, with the set of tools that I could bring to the table and put a very unique twist on his personality, but still pay homage to who he is. The third thing – and most important – is he had to be a badass motherfucker, OK, and on a Superman level of power, where [he] could throw down. In those three qualities, I’m happy we’ve found that character.”
Coinciding with the release of the first trailer for his next movie Hercules (hmm…), Johnson has now taken to Twitter to confirm that “myself and DC have agreed on a character… extremely complex, well known (but never played) and a pure BAD ASS MF;)” before seemingly ruling out an appearance alongside the likes of Henry Cavill (Superman), Ben Affleck (Batman) and Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) in either Batman vs. Superman or Justice League as the John Stewart incarnation of Green Lantern: “Green Lantern (John Stewart) and Black Adam are my fav superheroes, but GL’s already been made and stamped.”
As it happens, Johnson was previously attached to the role of Black Adam back when Peter Segal (Grudge Match) was attached to the Captain Marvel project Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam. He’s also been linked to another DC character in the alien bounty hunter Lobo, which would have reunited him with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island director Brad Peyton. However, could you really describe Black Adam and Lobo as “well known” outside of comic book fans?
Which DC role would you like to see Johnson taking on? Let us know in the comments below….
Originally published March 25, 2014. Updated November 28, 2022.
