Dwayne Johnson Clarifies Black Adam's Future After Conversations With DC’s James Gunn, Read The Rock's Statement

Update: James Gunn also issued his own response to Dwayne Johnson's comments about Black Adam. His tweet can be seen below:

In October, a decade and a half after Dwayne Johnson first became attached to the Black Adam role, the Black Adam movie finally hit theaters. Unfortunately, the combination of its underwhelming box office performance and the shakeups that have been happening at DC Films over the last several weeks have called into question whether we’ll be seeing more of Black Adam on the big screen. Well, following conversations with DC Studios co-head James Gunn, The Rock has issued a statement clarifying Black Adam’s cinematic future.

Sorry for those of you who were hoping to see Black Adam 2, but per Dwayne Johnson’s statement that he shared on Twitter, the sequel will not be moving forward. However, that doesn’t necessarily spell the end of us seeing more of Johnson’s Black Adam. As the WWE superstar explained:

Dwayne Johnson went on to say that fans can always count on him to be “direct” with his words, and that “the decisions made by James [Gunn] and DC represent their vision of DCU through their creative lens.” Finally, ahead of wishing everyone “a productive week and HAPPY HOLIDAYS,” The Rock had this to say about his time with Black Adam: 

James Gunn added in his own tweet that he’s “excited” to see what Dwayne Johnson and his Seven Bucks Production Company do next, and that he “can't wait to collaborate soon.” This update comes several weeks after it was reported that that Black Adam would lose money at the box office, to which Dwayne Johnson countered that it would actually turn a profit. Either way, Black Adam also failed to hit with a lot of professional critics, with the movie ranking at 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, although it boasts an Audience Score of 88%. Johnson’s superhero debut saw Teth-Adam being awoken after 5,000 years and clashing with the Justice Society, which consisted of Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone and Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher.

Dwayne Johnson’s mention of “future DC multiverse chapters” seems to be another sign that James Gunn, who’s co-running the freshly-created DC Studios with producer Peter Safran, are moving towards a new shared universe. We already know this is happening with Superman, as Henry Cavill will not reprise the Man of Steel following his appearance in Black Adam’s end-credits scene, and Gunn is writing a reboot that appears to be taking some cues from The Batman. There’s also the fact that Wonder Woman 3 isn’t moving forward, as well as unofficial chatter that Jason Momoa might step away from Aquaman and start playing Lobo.

The point being, if a new shared DC universe is launching, then it would make sense that Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam wouldn’t be involved right out the gate, regardless of how well the movie did. That said, just like Marvel, DC has its own multiverse to work with, as will be prominently seen next year in The Flash, Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen meeting Michael Keaton’s Batman and heroes from other universes. So just because Black Adam 2 isn’t on the table anymore, that doesn’t mean Johnson’s Black Adam couldn’t return someday if he’s dragged out of the DCEU and thrown into this other reality. As Johnson and James Gunn said, they’re keen on working together, so they can surely come up with something. 

HBO Max subscribers can stream Black Adam now, and it’s already doing quite well on the streaming service. While that will simply be a one-and-done adventure, keep visiting CinemaBlend for any news concerning Dwayne Johnson reprising Black Adam, as well as upcoming DC movies in general.