Dwayne Johnson Talks Henry Cavill and DC

The Rock opened up during a red carpet interview about the change in regime at DC Studios and more.

Dwayne Johnson arrives on the red carpet of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

Last year, before ‘Black Adam’ arrived on screen, Dwayne Johnson was in typically bullish PR mode, extolling the virtue of the character. And shortly after it landed in theaters, he was also talking up the presence of Henry Cavill’s Superman (in a post-credits cameo that leaked before the film was released), signaling that it meant big things for the future of Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC Studios arm.

Unfortunately for Johnson, it didn’t work out that way for either Cavill or his own plans. Despite Cavill being given the greenlight to announce his return, a change at the top of DC Studios –– with filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran being installed as co-CEOS –– meant that there was a new plan going forward: Cavill was out as Supes and, at least according to Gunn’s initial plan, Black Adam was nowhere to be seen.

Of course, ‘Black Adam’ didn’t exactly soar at the box office –– it made $392 million worldwide, but that was off of a $195 million budget. And despite Johnson planting stories to suggest it would be profitable, the DC team hasn’t so far considered it a hit or worthy of future use.

Black Adam

"The world needed a hero. It got Black Adam."

PG-132 hr 5 minOct 21st, 2022

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There were the initial, good-natured and curated responses from both sides –– “James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling. However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters,” said The Rock.

Now, though, in an Oscars red carpet interview with Variety ahead of him presenting Best Animated Feature, Johnson has opened up a little more about the change.

Henry Cavill Officially Returning as Superman.

Henry Cavill as Superman.

What did Dwayne Johnson say about the DC/Henry Cavill situation?

Here’s what Johnson had to say about the switch:

“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.’ ”

The Rock also commented on the reception for ‘Black Adam’ itself, which was not as positive as he might have preferred:

“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 shots, but that’s just the business of it.”

Which is not to say that Adam won’t one day be seen again, but it’s highly doubtful at this point. Gunn has his plans for DC, while Johnson has other franchises he can keep nurturing, including Netflix’s ‘Red Notice’ and a potential sequel to Disney’s ‘Jungle Cruise’. Next up for the actor/producer/tequila promoter, however, is Holiday adventure film ‘Red One’.

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Black Adam,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.