With Black Adam's future up in the air at DC, Dwayne Johnson called out reports saying he had failed to pitch a future for his DC Universe (DCU)hero.
Johnson's long-gestating blockbuster, Black Adam, came and went last Fall with little-to-no fanfare. The project only managed to make just under $400 million in its first seven weeks at the box office (a mark that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hit in only two weeks), coming in much lower than the studio was hoping financially.
Then, when it was revealed James Gunn and Peter Safran would take over CEO duties of DC Studios, announcing a DCU slate of their own, the actor's future with the franchise was put further into question.
Johnson has noted that he's excited "to see what [the pair] do with the DC world," but would not confirm if he was a part of that plan.
Dwayne Johnson Calls Out Black Adam Report
Speaking on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson told viewers that a recent report about his DC future was simply "not true:"
When prodded on a recent story from Variety, breaking down the actor's failed "multiyear [Black Adam]" pitch that - as CNBC host Morgan Brennan put it - "'ruffled feathers' internally", Johnson said this:
"That is simply not true. I had a great meeting with David Zaslav, myself and my longtime business partner Dany Garcia. Her and myself went in, we sat with David, and we did not pitch a ten-year plan at all. What our meeting was the future and how can we build across the entire platform of Warner bros. and Discovery."
Johnson said recent weeks have been "challenging," as he demonstrated "discipline" by just "[letting] these reports come out:"
"You know, I gotta tell you Morgan and David, one of the hardest things that I've had to do - and it's one of the greater disciplines that we have to practice when we're in this position - is you want to be careful how much you get pulled into the sludge. of media reporting.
Now, that's not an overall criticism. but you do want to be careful about it. So it was very difficult - wait, let me rephrase that - it was challenging to exercise that kind of discipline. Just to let these reports come out."
Will Black Adam 2 Happen?
The Black Adam situation is messy, and unfortunately, this does not clear it up in any way. The future of Dwayne Johnson at DC remains a massive question mark.
After Johnson seemingly had plans for a Black Adam 2, movement on that front has halted. However, until Gunn and Safran outright the actor has nothing to do with this next era of the DCU, the possibility of a Johnson return remains.
But this feels like par for the course when it comes to Black Adam on the big screen. The film took more than a decade to make, landed with the hollow thud of dismal reviews and mediocre box office receipts upon release, and then got caught up in the mess that was the Henry Cavill/Superman situation (something Johnson himself was largely responsible for).
Did this Black Adam pitch happen between the film's star and David Zaslav? Johnson would say, "no." But if these last few months have taught fans anything, it is that nothing Black Adam-related can be taken 100% seriously.
Black Adam is available to stream now on HBO Max.
