It’s not a good time to be a DC superhero and Dwayne Johnson’s latest address confirms what many Black Adam fans had feared for a few days now, that there’s no room for him in James Gunn’s DCU, at least for now.Though it was Wonder Woman 3's cancelation that sparked the wave of DC rumors that’s taken over media headlines for just over a week now, Gunn has been quite busy shutting down false claims, deflecting erroneous conclusions and, overall, simply doing his job as the studio’s new creative boss. With Henry Cavill’s departure leaving the new DCU without a Superman, the guy that brought him back was up next on most people’s hitlist, as Johnson himself has said it’s hard to imagine Black Adam existing without Superman.In that sense, a tweet from The Rock himself has fully cleared up the current situation regarding the character, with the actor’s statement simply reading “James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in the first chapter of storytelling,” for the newly founded DCU. However, Johnson’s account does leave some room for hope as he says DC and his production company, Seven Bucks, will continue exploring creative avenues in which Black Adam could be used “in future DC multiverse chapters,” meaning -at best- Teth Adam will resume his slumber.
Johnson closed off his statement by wishing Gunn the best in charge of DC’s new era, saying he’ll always root for both DC and Marvel to succeed, as well as expressing his pride in the Black Adam film he sought to make for the past 15 years. The tweets quickly received almost 37,000 likes in one hour and Johnson’s replies were filled with positive thoughts about Black Adam, despite the film disappointing financially.
Gunn instantly quote tweeted Johnson’s statement expressing his love for the actor and also leaving the door open for future collaborations, so maybe Black Adam can indeed come back to his DCU one day. While Johnson turned 50 this year, he’s still in peak physical shape, and it’s likely he will stay that way well into his sixties like fellow action star Tom Cruise, so whether these responses are some form of damage control or not, it'd be foolish to dismiss future appearances on those grounds.
Most recently, Gunn has come out to outright deny stories that suggested Gal Gadot had been fired from DC, and he’s pretty much been doing rounds for ten days straight, after all, Gunn’s constant communication with Marvel and DC fans is one of the unique things he brings to the table. Nevertheless, the news will do little to calm the current storm taking over DC.
Black Adam is currently available on HBO Max.