Dwayne Johnson Joining A Superhero TV Series?
A new rumor has the studios wanting Dwayne Johnson for a superhero television series.
This article is more than 2 years old
Dwayne Johnson is super amped for Black Adam. He’s talked about it on social media relentlessly for years. In 2014, it was announced that he’d first play the character in Shazam!, and he took to Twitter with great pride. By the time the movie came out in 2019, he was nowhere to be found. The studio decided they didn’t want The Rock to overshadow or distract, saying that introducing Black Adam was too much for one movie. Fortunately, they moved forward with a solo project they believed in, and Black Adam is currently filming for the DC Cinematic Universe. But perhaps Johnson is excited enough to play the character in an expansion of the DC universe as well? According to what insider Daniel Richtman has shared with his Patreon page, Warner Bros wants Dwayne Johnson to cameo as Black Adam in The CW’s Arrowverse.
Fans of the characters in DC comics like Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam can watch them in the DC Extended Universe on the big screen in movies like Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, and Justice League. They can also watch television series on The CW, like Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, and Arrow. These series on The CW have been commonly referred to as Arrowverse, even if the network has attempted to rebrand them as CWverse.
To follow wider storylines, it can be fun to start with Arrow on The CW and then branch into the other connected series. In the same way that you might see over-arcing stories in the DC movies. However, typically, you don’t need to watch the DC shows on The CW to follow anything that’s happening in the movies, and vice versa. Watching Justice League isn’t going to tell you anything new about what’s happening on Legends of Tomorrow.
Recently, The CW aired Crisis on Infinite Earths and connected the Arrowverse with the DC Extended Universe. In a major scene, Ezra Miller as Flash faces Grant Gustin. We haven’t seen Ezra Miller’s Flash movie yet, but he’s played the character in Justice League and other DCEU films. This connects them, in the same way a Dwayne Johnson cameo as Black Adam would.
Is DC looking to do a better job bringing fans of the DC Cinematic Universe over to The CW? If so, this rumor from Daniel Richtman could make sense. Having Dwayne Johnson appear as Black Adam, even in a brief cameo, may get many fans to check out one of The CW shows. Richtman doesn’t share whether The CW had a particular show in mind. Right now, the network is renewing programs with low ratings. The only show that’s doing well for them is Superman & Lois. Doing more to connect Arrowverse programs with DC films could help their ratings, but do they have the budget to bring major stars like Dwayne Johnson onto one of their low-ratings television series? Doesn’t that seem like an odd business decision?
At this point, Richtman says he’s heard that the studio wants Dwayne Johnson on board for a cameo, but doesn’t say that they’ve talked to him yet or that he’s agreed. If they can work out the contract details, like scheduling and payment, this may be something The Rock is up for. As mentioned above, he’s hyped to be starring in Black Adam. He may be up for a cameo that gives him a chance to play the character again. We’ll be watching to see if Johnson mentions more about this, or if the network finds other ways to revive Arrowverse ratings.
