NEW YORK (AP) — In Hollywood’s superhero era thus far, there has been one particularly conspicuous absence: While a parade of big-name actors have taken their turns donning various spandex suits, Dwayne Johnson — arguably the biggest movie star in the world — has, until now, sat out the trend.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has promised a “reset” to the studio’s DC operations in an overhaul to implement a more Marvel-like 10-year structure and improve quality. At the fulcrum of these two eras sits “Black Adam,” which opens in theaters Thursday.
More recent treatments have pushed Black Adam more toward antihero status, something the film, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra , extends. Black Adam, summoned to modern day, is depicted as a reluctant hero who fears his own powers. “We did have a template for a really good idea, but ultimately both characters required so much space to properly launch them,” said producer Hiram Garcia. “We were just struggling in terms of bandwidth that the script could hold and in terms of tone, as well. Inherently, as you saw with how the ‘Shazam’ movie came out, that movie is just so differently tonally from how ‘Black Adam’ is.”, grossing $366 million worldwide in 2019 . The ambitions for “Black Adam” are larger.
“If Dwayne Johnson’s going to do a superhero, the powers better be A-plus,” said producer Beau Flynn. As of this summer, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are running Warner Bros.′ revamped film division, though no new DC leader has yet been appointed. Zaslav has been seeking his studio’s answer to Marvel’s Kevin Feige to take the reigns. For Johnson, “Black Adam” is part of that new chapter for DC.