Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has become the premiere action star of the industry. As a former WWE wrestler, he also knows a thing or two about high-impact stunts and agonizing injuries. Thus, a recent Instagram post from Johnson showcasing a devastatingly displaced finger suffered on the set of Central Intelligence had the Internet collectively in awe of his off-the-charts manliness. However, it seems that the finger wasn’t the only think crooked in that particular post.
As you can see, this gratuitous Instagram features The Rock using what appears to be a badly bent finger to show the world that quoting Predator is the perfect way to walk off an insane injury. The disfigured phalange appeared to be a genuine moment for the annals of real life movie star badassery and the public, at least, for a brief time, celebrated what a man’s man we had in the current San Andreas star. However, it turns out that what The Rock was "cooking" this particular time wasn’t any form of pie, but rather, a healthy helping of hijinks. A number of outlets, including Variety, later confirmed that the jokey Johnson was simply using a prosthetic to have some fun at our expense. Well played, Rock.
We were so ready to sing Johnson’s praises as a magnificent manly man who naturally oozes enough performance-enhancing testosterone to get a professional athlete popped for shaking his hand from the contact transference. However, it seems that, at least in this particular instance, the adulation was premature. Yet, that is not to say that he isn’t truly a badass capable of the kind of nonchalant approach to pain he displayed in that Instagram post. Having spent several years as a performer in the WWE, Johnson has genuinely worked through injuries with a tremendous amount of physicality. Even in his last match in 2013 against John Cena at Wrestlemania 29, Johnson kept performing after suffering what had to be excruciating abdominal pain from a trio of hernial tears. Thus, the fakeness of this incident does nothing to impugn his badassery.
Of course, Central Intelligence, the film set on which Johnson suffered his ersatz injury, appears to be nothing less than an intense action thriller that also manages to mix in the comedy as it pairs the action icon with comedian and perennial buddy movie partner Kevin Hart. In the film, Johnson plays "Bob," an eccentric, but deadly C.I.A. operative who kills (presumably bad) people for a living. In a premise that might be borrowing a bit from 1997's Grosse Pointe Blank, this expert assassin decides to reconnect with his past by attending his high school reunion. In the ultimate bit of irony, he meets the bully who tormented him back in those days, who is now a mild-mannered accountant played by the diminutive Hart. Unfortunately, Bob’s job happened to follow him to this supposedly safe outing and now Bob and his former Bully must team up to trounce some party-crashing killers.
Central Intelligence will likely have The Rock bending more than fingers when the film hits theaters on June 17, 2016.
