Dwayne Johnson Confirms That Black Adam Is Not In The First Phase Of James Gunn's DCU

Dec 21

Black Adam Dwayne Johnson — Image Source: OkayPlayer

A little over 9 years ago, Dwayne Johnson was cast as Black Adam and in October we finally got to see him in action. Now, approximately 2 months later it seems that he is already on his way out of that role. As part of the ongoing shake-up going on at DC films with the beginning of the James Gunn-Peter Safran era (not to be confused with the shake-up from when Discovery bought Warner Brothers, or the shake-up when Geoff Johns stepped down), Black Adam is not in the “Phase 1” plans for the DC universe under Gunn and Safran. He joins Henry Cavill’s Superman (after announcing just one month before he was returning to the role) and Patty Jenkin’s Wonder Woman 3 as the latest casualties of the changing of the guard. Johnson announced the news on Twitter.

There are some interesting things to note in the tweet. For one, he doesn’t say outright that he will never suit up in the cape and ears again, however, it is very clear that for the time being, both Johnson and Black Adam are not a part of the DC universe moving forward. It is also interesting that he uses the term multiverse which is a large part of the DC comic universe but has yet to be explored in DC films. Finally, while it sounds like it wasn’t Johnson’s decision, there also doesn’t appear any ill will between the parties and everyone understands that it comes with the business. A response tweet by James Gunn seemed to confirm this and hopefully we haven’t seen the last of Black Adam. We will keep you posted on any developments from the ever-changing DC films outlook.