Dwayne Johnson Offers New Hints For His DC Character – “On A Superman Level Of Power” And Not Green Lantern
Earlier this year, Dwayne Johnson confirmed that he was planning to team up with DC Entertainment for an unspecified project in 2014. Naturally, plenty of rumors and speculation surrounded his role in the DC Cinematic Universe. The most frequently rumored choice has been Green Lantern John Stewart, whom “The Rock” is a huge fan of. Now, Johnson has discussed his negotiations with DC, and offered a few hints for his character.
Appearing at CinemaCon this week (via Spinoff Online), Johnson was inevitably asked about the DC rumors. He reaffirmed that he has been talking with the studio for some time, searching for the right character for Johnson to play. “So, you know, there’s been mutual interest with myself and DC for many years to find the right character. I, like everyone here in the room, love superheroes. So there’s been mutual interest with us for years, and we’ve been having ongoing discussions, myself and DC, for years about the right character, what the right character would be. That’s another thing, too: It had to be right.” In the past, Johnson was linked to both Shazam‘s Black Adam and Lobo.
The Rock then listed three qualities that his DC character had to have, hinting at this hero or villain’s identity. “The first quality we were looking for was that he had to be extremely complex and have a lot going on. What that does for me as an actor and the studio is it gives us space that we can explore; his complexities.”
“The other quality was that he had to – the character we were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life. Then what that does again as an actor, it gives me a little bit of space, and we talked about personality. It just gives me a chance to put an imprint into his personality, with the set of tools that I could bring to the table and put a very unique twist on his personality, but still pay homage to who he is.” He finishes with perhaps the most intriguing hint. “The third thing – and most important – is he had to be a badass mother[bleep]er, OK, and on a Superman level of power, where [he] could throw down. In those three qualities, I’m happy we’ve found that character.”
In a separate interview with IGN, Johnson added a few more tidbits. He said that the DC project he’s attached to is approaching “a lot” of screenwriters, and he had this to say when asked if his character will be revealed at Comic-Con. “Yeah, I think time, man! We need to find a writer. When is that, June? July? Yeah, possibly. So how about that?” Finally, he was asked if this character will have a cameo in a preexisting franchise, or he makes his debut in his own film. “Possibly, but we haven’t discussed that — not you and I, but in terms of me and DC. But possibly, sure. You never know.”
Additionally, Johnson was asked during “Rock Talk” on Twitter today if there’s any truth to his playing John Stewart. He then apparently rules out this possibility, despite loving the character. “Green Lantern (John Stewart) and Black Adam are my fav superheroes, but GL’s already been made and stamped.” This and the other details he’s given certainly narrow down the list of potential roles. Lobo and Black Adam are certainly capable of going toe-to-toe with Superman, but they don’t come to mind when one thinks of “extremely complex” or well-known. Same with Doomsday, who is rumored to be the secondary villain in Batman vs. Superman. And Cyborg is unlikely to fit into any of these categories. Personally, I’m betting that Johnson will play the Lord of Apokolips himself, Darkseid. That’s a character who could easily be complex, well-known, and able to take on Superman.
Which character do you think Johnson is lined up to play? Stay tuned for mores news as we have it.
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