Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson believes he has just “one shot” at cracking the superhero genre and making fans happy.
After a 10-year journey, The Rock is due to make his big-screen superhero debut as Black Adam, and if you didn’t already know, the hierarchy of power in the DC universe… is about to change.
“Like most kids growing up, I dreamed about being a superhero. Having cool superpowers, fighting for what’s right and always protecting the people. It all changed for me, when I was 10yrs old and was first introduced to the greatest superhero of all time – Superman,” he earlier wrote.
However, as he grew older, he felt a kinship with one of DC’s strongest anti-heroes: Black Adam, the god-like titan of Kahndaq. Playing him isn’t an opportunity he’s taken lightly, and he’s striving for all-time greatness.
Dwayne Johnson says he has “one shot” at glory with Black Adam
In a new interview with Total Film ahead of Black Adam’s release, the star spoke of his excitement for the film finally hitting cinemas, and the “pressure” of joining the ranks of other superhero efforts.
Johnson said: “After being in this business for many years, Black Adam is a once-in-a-career character.
“I realize, going in, you’ve got one shot, and the pressure’s on. You’ve got to dive headfirst into the fire. Because, also, the superhero genre has been busted wide open in the greatest of ways in our business, and has been responsible for some of the greatest movies ever made. So that’s the measuring stick [you’re judged against].”
Dwayne Johnson says Black Adam is a “complete departure” from his other characters
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Over the past five years, Johnson has mostly been type-cast as a buff, funny action hero, whether it’s Red Notice, Rampage, Skyscraper, Jungle Cruise, or even Jumanji.
During early marketing for Black Adam, Johnson wrote that the role was “unlike any other I’ve ever played in my career”, and now he’s stressed that it’ll be a “complete departure.”
I got one shot here with #BlackAdam It’s been with me for almost 15yrs and I push all my chips in. Give it all I got. The bar is set high + the superhero genre has given us some of the greatest movies ever.#ManInBlack https://t.co/CzXJwqDu79
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 17, 2022
He continued: “I think Black Adam is going to be a departure from what people have seen of me onscreen over the decades.
“I wanted to make sure that I brought Black Adam to life, knowing that it was a departure from what I had played before in the past, because there’s a lot of elements about Black Adam that are dependent on your perspective.
“Is he a supervillain? Is he an antihero? To some, he is just a straight-up superhero. There are just natural elements, I think, in me, that are part of my DNA that we see in the character of Black Adam. [But] it is a departure from anything that I’ve played before in the past. A complete departure.”
Black Adam is due for release on October 21, 2022.
