At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had other people raising eyebrows when he said that his long-awaited superhero debut in Black Adam would be the beginning of “a new era” for the DC Extended Universe. The questions naturally followed: What did he mean? And what would that kind of reset mean for the remainder of DCEU’s roster, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the rest of the Justice League, Suicide Squad, Shazam and so on.
As Black Adam neared theaters, though, Johnson clarified that statement in a recent sit-down with Yahoo Entertainment (watch above).
“I feel like this is our opportunity now to expand the DC Universe and what we have in Black Adam, which I think is really cool just as a fan, is we introduce five new superheroes to the world,” Johnson tells us. (That would be Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, who together comprise the Justice Society.) “One anti-hero.” (That would be DJ’s Black Adam.)
“And what an opportunity. The Justice Society pre-dated the Justice League. So opportunity, expand out the universe, in my mind… all these characters interact. That’s why you see in Black Adam, we acknowledge everyone: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, we acknowledge everybody. There’s also some Easter eggs in there, too. So that’s what I meant by the resetting. Maybe ‘resetting’ wasn’t a good term. It’s expanding.”
Of all those supes named, though, only one can claim to be the most powerful. And Johnson, when gently pressed, says it’s his indestructible, 5,000-year-old Kahndaqi warrior also known as Teth-Adam, that is the most powerful superhero in any universe, DC, Marvel or otherwise.
“Without a doubt,” Johnson says. “By the way, it’s not hyperbole because we made the movie. And we made him this powerful. He has powers that are rival to that of Superman. But the difference is he’s got an attitude. And if you try to hurt him or his people, well, there’s a problem. He becomes your biggest threat. So I do believe that Black Adam is the most powerful and unstoppable force on this planet.”
Watch our full interview with Johnson, Brosnan, Hodge, Centineo, Swindell and co-stars Mohammed Amer and Sarah Shahi above.
— Video produced by Kyle Moss and edited by Jason Fitzpatrick
Black Adam opens Friday.
Watch our cast interview from Comic-Con:
