Will Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Black Adam save DC Universe after its axing of another superhero film, Batgirl, and The Flash controversy?

The Rock’s new film comes at a critical time for DC, after Batgirl’s axing and Ezra Miller scandals have kept the Warner Bros. subsidiary off the pace of Marvel

Johnson thinks the timing of his superhero debut is perfect, and that it will usher in a new era for DC, even though the road to this Black Adam movie was long

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Dwayne Johnson in a still from Black Adam. The Rock’s new film comes at a critical time for DC, after Batgirl axing and The Flash scandals kept the Warner Bros. subsidiary lagging. Long in the making, will Black Adam be the superhero movie that saves DC? Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

Published: 7:15pm, 19 Oct 2022

In Hollywood’s superhero era thus far, there has been one particularly conspicuous absence: while a parade of big-name actors have taken their turns donning various spandex suits, Dwayne Johnson – arguably the biggest movie star in the world – has, until now, sat out the trend.

The Rock didn’t really need a cape to prove his powers. The 1.96 metre (6ft 5in), 118kg (260lb) actor was, in many respects, already a superhero in his own right: a skyscraper-climbing hulk, a shape-shifting demigod, even a bulked-up tooth fairy.

“I was always ready and open to playing a superhero,” says Johnson. “But it had to be right and it had to feel right. I had been approached before in the past about playing a few superheroes that, ultimately, I ended up passing on. They ended up going to the right actors to play them. I just waited.”

The fates have finally aligned in Black Adam, a debut so seamless that it could be called redundant. When Johnson was first trying on Black Adam’s suit, he had the muscle padding removed.

Johnson’s entry into the superhero business comes at a crucial juncture for the DC Extended Universe, which has been plagued of late by scandal and misfires.