Dwayne Johnson (‘Black Adam’): “No one seems to want to hear the fans”

SPOILER attention!

* Dwayne Johnson mentions “Black Adam” spoilers in the interview.

Few rings were missing to conquer Dwayne Johnson, the Rock, WWE legend and one of the most successful actors of the current scene. However, for years he has been waiting patiently to make the leap to superhero movies. He has probably never been short of offers, but since he agreed to become Black Adam in 2007, he has remained true to the character. Now that the film in which he plays Kahndaq’s champion is released, we have a much clearer idea of ​​what these 15 years of waiting have been: a fight. But nothing exemplifies this film better, according to him: “‘Black Adam’ represents that struggle, that passion” He tells us about it in the interview we gave him the day before he went to Madrid to share the film with the Spanish audience.

Johnson believes it “in recent years it seems that no one would have wanted to listen to the fans”but states that a new order arrived in DC from the same Warner offices: “The old regime and the old rulers we fought with to make the movie we wanted and the post-credits scene we wanted are gone.”. Without going further, Warner Bros. Discovery Walter Hamada, who had been president of DC Films since 2018, left Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday. Hamada is still part of “Black Adam” as executive producer, but the new studio council wants him to find someone closer to Kevin Feige’s profile, capable of developing a whole network of titles with a broader plan. The Rock reveals that David Zaslav, the new head of Warner Bros. Discovery, is much more open to the big plans he has with Black Adam and DC: “We now have new managers that we believe in: David Zaslav, Pam Abdy and Mike de Luca. And we will bring someone who can run DC and show good leadership, but right now we are in a moment where as a fan you can feel that there has been a noticeable change, that they are listening to us”. Although it is very clear to whom he should report above any manager: “We made this film for our real bosses: the fans”.

How to introduce five new superheroes

During the press tour, The Rock pointed out that “Black Adam” opens a new era in the DC universe. “I love Superman, Batman and the entire Justice League, but it’s time to expand the DC universe and introduce new faces and characters.”. In addition to himself, Teth Adam, chosen to save his people from tyranny using the powers of wizards, Jaume Collet-Serra’s film introduces four other superheroes: the Justice Society. Although not as well known as the League, they have been the superhero team in history, first appearing in cartoons in 1940. Aldis Hodge plays Hawkman, Pierce Brosnan plays Doctor Fate, Quintessa Swindell plays Cyclone and Noah Centineo in Atombreaker. Presenting them was a great challenge, but he doesn’t hesitate to mention the competition as inspiration: “Marvel did great things with “Guardians of the Galaxy” when it came to introducing the characters. I’ve always said we don’t want to be Marvel, I respect and love them, but we want to do it our way, DC’s way.”.

On Friday 21st October we will finally be able to meet Black Adam and understand why Dwayne Johnson has decided to wait and fight as long as it takes to make a film that truly opens up new horizons for the franchise he has just entered. “It was worth every minute of fighting not to give up”, he assures us. Now it all depends on their bosses, the fans.