One notable missing characteristic of the current superhero period in Hollywood: Dwayne Johnson, possibly the greatest movie star in the world, has sat out the spandex fad that has recently engulfed so many other famous stars.
The Rock could have shown his superpowers without a cape. In many ways, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound actor was already a superhero in his own right: a skyscraper-climbing giant, a shape-shifting demi-god, even a bulked-up tooth fairy. Black Adam is a debut so polished it borders on redundancy, and the stars have finally aligned for the protagonist.
Black Adam Will Introduce Dwayne Johnson Into The DC World
Johnson had the muscular padding taken out of Black Adam’s outfit when he was initially putting it on. Given the recent scandals and misfires that have plagued the DC Extended Universe, Johnson’s debut into the superhero industry could not have come at a better time. Two arrests this year have been made against Ezra Miller, who plays Barry Allen in the forthcoming The Flash, and who has been the subject of claims of questionable conduct. The abrupt cancellation of the $90 million Batgirl film for HBO Max caused an uproar among fans of the show.
To create a more Marvel-like 10-year framework and increase quality, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has vowed a “reset” to the studio’s DC operations. Black Adam, in cinemas this Thursday, serves as a pivot between these two time periods.
Johnson, who has 341 million Instagram followers and is regularly forced to dodge queries about a prospective presidential candidacy, is surely a welcome sight amid such chaos. Yet, it remains to be seen how much calm The Rock can bring to the nation’s capital.
