Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is one of the biggest action stars in the world, both in his muscular stature, as well as his popularity. With Furious 7 on the way this year, and his upcoming performance as Black Adam in Warner Bros' Shazam, that reputation doesn't seem to have any sort of end in sight, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Of course, if this next rumor has any truth to it, he actually could have played an bigger part in the growing DC universe, as it’s been reported that he actually rejected the role of Green Lantern.
This scoop was broken just recently on the Twitter feed of "El Mayimbe" from the website Latino Review. This is the second story they’ve reported today following the rumors of Drew Goddard directing the next Spider-Man movie. It's hard to tell which rumor would be the more interesting truth out of the two, but this one weirdly puts a punctuation mark at the end of a rumor that had been going for quite some time now – with Dwayne Johnson spending months hinting that he would possibly take on the part of Green Lantern in the DC Universe. It’s also worth noting that if this rumor is true, it could potentially mean that Warner Bros. and DC Comics are looking for a John Stewart for their cinematic universe instead of Hal Jordan.
So how does Dwayne Johnson go from dropping hints left and right about playing the lead in a Green Lantern reboot to terrorizing whatever version of Shazam DC chooses to adapt into their film franchise hopeful? Well, there's a couple of things that could have happened. For starters, seeing as the rumors have been flying since circa 2012, the proximity of any sort of reboot to the box office debacle that was Ryan Reynolds' outing with the Green Lantern in 2011 might have had a hand in scaring Johnson off. It's daunting enough to be playing a superhero, but to be playing one that already has some serious negative buzz attached to it? That's not a good look on anyone.
However, that was also the time period in which Johnson started to earn his nickname, "franchise Viagra," as he brought new life and some fresh pain to Vin Diesel and his crew in the Fast and Furious franchise. With that in consideration, the idea of trying reviving a DOA franchise may not have necessarily been what scared Dwayne Johnson away. Really, it’s entirely possible there was no specific reason behind Dwayne Johnson turning down his proposed role in the DC universe, other than he just didn't feel like accepting the offer he was given. Or maybe he just didn’t ultimately feel like being Green Lantern, and instead just really wanted to be Black Adam (a role he was first linked to back in 2007).
Whatever the case for turning down early entry into the DC Cinematic Universe, the path that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has taken in his career is one that's given us plenty of asses kicked, cars crashed, and explosions exploded in the past few years… which obviously means he's now more than ready to square off against any superhero who dare cross his path! Until then, though, you can see Johnson fighting alongside Vin Diesel and his crew in Furious 7 - which spins its wheels into theaters on April 3rd.
