Out on the white carpet at the Oscars, actor Dwayne Johnson was asked about and took time to discuss the new DC Universe and the overhaul that essentially scuttled his plans for a Black Adam-Superman crossover movie.
Marc Malkin of Variety spoke with Johnson and asked about Cavill’s Superman being let go from the Superman role despite all of Johnson’s efforts that managed to get the British actor back for a post-credits stinger in “Black Adam”.
James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as the new DC Studios bosses shortly after “Black Adam” opened in cinemas to poor reviews and box-office, in doing so they teased plans for multiple new DC projects going forward and confirmed shortly after that Cavill was out as Superman – and no “Black Adam” sequel was to be made.
At the same time Johnson, who appeared to be laying his own groundwork for his own DC Universe with “Black Adam,” tried to save face regarding the film’s disappointing results. Last night though, he sounds like he’s moved on:
“All that I can do, and all that we could do when we were making ‘Black Adam,’ was to put our best foot forward and surround ourselves with the best people and deliver the best movie we could. Our audience score was in the 90s. Critics took a couple of shots, but that’s just the business of it.
It’s almost like when you have a pro football team and your quarterback wins championships and your head coach wins championships and then a new owner comes in and says, ‘Not my coach, not my quarterback. I’m going to go with somebody new.'”
Johnson previously indicated in December he and James Gunn connected and whilst Black Adam will not be in their ‘first chapter’ of storytelling, he did indicate he would be open to returning in “future DC multiverse chapters”.
A new Superman actor will be hired for “Superman: Legacy” which will follow a younger version of the character. Gunn has penned that script and is rumored to direct.
