Hollywood has long relied on the time-honored blockbuster format of making a new entry in a beloved genre with a new movie star in the leading role. Black Adam had a lot going for it, but slapping Dwayne Johnson's face on every moment of trailer footage might not have been the best strategy.
Black Adam is doing well at the box office, but the critics and audiences are divided on the film's quality. A glance at social media will reveal that more DC fans are screaming and clapping about the return of Henry Cavil than about anything in the film, including the star that produced it.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a movie star first and an actor second. That isn't a criticism, in many ways, it's a celebration of the People's Champion's larger-than-life persona. He has the charisma to win over an audience, the physicality to dominate a scene, and the unquestionable bona fides to claim movie star status. People don't really want to see him do King Lear, they want to see him in large-scale action blockbusters and broad studio comedies. Dwayne Johnson has been signed on to play Black Adam for years, excited by the rare opportunity to play a villain. By the time the film came out, he was more of an intense edgy anti-hero. Black Adam didn't promote itself on the public affection for the character, they tried to sell audiences. "Finally," they said, "a superhero movie with The Rock." But, despite being built on star power from the ground up, Black Adam doesn't feel like a role for Dwayne Johnson.
Teth-Adam was introduced to DC Comics as a supervillain, but like a lot of popular antagonists, he's gradually shifted into a morally flexible anti-hero role. Also like a lot of villains, he was created as a deliberate equal and opposite to his rival. Billy Batson got the power that made him Shazam and used it to fight crime, save people, and have a good time. Teth-Adam got it through the kindness of his pure-hearted nephew, who he then killed for daring to seek peace. Though it's been confused by the ever-shifting motivation of the character, Black Adam is most often portrayed as a violent tyrant. His general attitude is smug self-satisfaction alloyed with low-burning indignation and anger. Black Adam is not a particularly charismatic character. The character's villainous tendencies were part of what drew Johnson to the role, but it also makes it that much harder for the Rock to pull off.
Black Adam is, for most of the runtime of his debut, tortured, angry, sarcastic, and stoic. He rarely gets any lines of levity, he rarely gets to communicate any personality through his dialogue, and he comes across like a mid-tier villain more than anything else. Since Adam was moved from antagonist in a Shazam movie to hero in his own film, the script feels like it's bending over backward to make him feel like a generic superhero. The film wants to set the character up for villainy while also having him lead the most by-the-numbers superhero storyline imaginable. Dwayne Johnson was their go-to selling point as a film, and the role simply never gives him a chance to put his charisma on display. Adam is a fairly humorless character in his source material, so this isn't shocking for fans. They could've changed the writing to better showcase the star, and there are a few models they could've picked from.
Dwayne Johnson has portrayed villains in the past. Perhaps most notably, his wrestling career included non-stop heel turns. His villainous persona wasn't too dissimilar from his heroic face role. He was a charismatic bully, who would dish out insults and laugh dismissively at his opponents. His mouth was as dangerous as his muscles. If the film wanted to go in that direction, Black Adam would've been more enjoyable to watch interact with his allies and enemies. The character as depicted in the film is simply too serious for that kind of levity. Black Adam is an anti-hero, but not in a fun Deadpool kind of way. He's more like a regular preening monarch supervillain who occasionally happens to hurt other bad people. His actions rarely match the presentation, and neither suits Johnson's strengths as an actor.
Given the financial success of the film and the ongoing effort to revamp the larger DCEU, it's very likely that the world will see The Rock in this role once again. Perhaps it will go better without the burden of introducing the character. Dwayne Johnson needs the right role to shine, and despite his clear love of the idea, this hasn't been the best showcase for his talents. Black Adam could set the stage for something more interesting, but the stoic and angry tyrant hasn't been the best outlet for The Rock's talents yet.