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Sun 13 April 2025 4:00, UK
The biggest stars typically have the biggest egos, which comes with the territory when an actor has an unmatched ability to put butts in seats. Dwayne Johnson is unlikely to become a fixture of the Academy Awards, but he definitely knows how to market himself.
‘The Rock’ has been named as the single highest-paid actor in Hollywood on five separate occasions, with his earnings for 2024 alone estimated to be $88 million. That’s a ludicrous amount of money, especially when his only live-action movie that year was the dismal festive blockbuster Red One, although the Moana sequel clearing a billion dollars helped burnish his bank balance.
He even returned to the Fast & Furious franchise after vowing never to set foot in Vin Diesel’s sandbox again. The long-running series has become defined by its fragile egos and preposterous demands, which saw Johnson, Diesel, and Jason Statham hammer out a set of rules and regulations for their onscreen fights so extensive and petty that they border on the hilarious.
However, he didn’t kill any of those aforementioned films with his ego. In fact, he didn’t really destroy a feature at all but plans for an entire shared universe. Passion projects are a common occurrence in Hollywood, and the former professional wrestler held on to the DC Comics adaptation of Black Adam for a decade and a half before it finally reached the screen in 2022.
As the leading man, producer, and creative driving force behind the project, Johnson had plenty of sway over Black Adam. The downside was that he used it to try and establish himself as the focal point of a multi-billion dollar cash cow Warner Bros had been working on for a decade at that point, a self-serving move that turned out to be completely pointless.
“Dwayne tries to sell himself as bigger than the movie,” an executive told The Wrap. “He’s one of the few people who always thinks he’s the most important person in any situation or room.” Sometimes he is, but not always. Either way, his attempted coup didn’t go unnoticed.
“Instead of making a movie, he wants to extend his brand and make a brand centred on himself,” another exec suggested. ‘The Rock’ was the one that pushed for Henry Cavill to be brought back as Superman to set up a sequel where the two costumed meatheads would presumably clash, and he did a suspiciously similar thing in the animated DC League of Super-Pets, too.
According to someone familiar with the situation, Johnson “systematically crippled two franchises and has harmed DC in the process” by “alienating the established property that his character was born out with and refusing to integrate with other characters.” What did he have to show for it at the end of the day? Absolutely nothing.
James Gunn and Peter Safran were named co-CEOs of the rebranded DC Studios the same month Black Adam was released, and one of their first orders of business was to kick out Cavill’s Superman and announce a reboot, which also removed Johnson from the picture by extension. Black Adam wasn’t a flop in the strictest sense, but it’s safe to say the actor’s power play didn’t go according to plan.
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