Black Adam: Dwayne Johnson Opens Up About DC Film Getting "Caught in Web of New Leadership"

Dwayne Johnson opens up about his Black Adam exit at DC Studios.

By Nathaniel Brail

DC Studios is moving on from the DC Extended Universe that began with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and rebooting it with James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-CEOs. The duo began their duties last November, which was weeks after the studio released the Dwayne Johnson-led Black Adam. Black Adam received some pretty bad reviews and might've been a flop, but it did easily give Johnson his largest opening weekend yet. Gunn and Safran revealed that they will be recasting certain roles in the DC Universe reboot, and it seems that Black Adam wasn't part of their plans, so Johnson was forced to exit the role. Johnson recently appeared on Peacock and Kevin Hart's Hart to Hart, where he discussed how Black Adam was caught in a "web of new leadership" at Warner Bros. Discovery.

Dwayne Johnson's Latest Comment on Black Adam Exit

"I think that Black Adam got caught in a vortex of new leadership, and at that time we were creating Black Adam, developing it, shooting Black Adam, getting knocked back down because of COVID, the shutdowns, got back up," Johnson said. "There was so many changes in leadership, and, as you know, anytime you have a company of that size and magnitude that's a publicly traded company, and you have all of those changes in leadership. You have people coming in who, creatively and fiscally, are going to make decisions that you may not agree with."

"So, I think Black Adam was one of those movies that got caught in that web of new leadership, and you know, that will always be one of the biggest mysteries, I think. Not only for me on our end but also throughout our business because that's a Kevin [Hart] question, but that was a question out of Wall Street; that was a question out of Hollywood. Like, 'Wait a second. You had the biggest opening of your career'—sure, no China; that could have been 100, maybe 200 more million dollars. You're establishing a new superhero. You want to grow out the franchise. You bring back Superman and Henry Cavill. The world went crazy, and we also created a diverse superhero movie. We had just men and women of color in Black Adam 2 as well." The Black Adam star added.

You can check out the full clip below.

Dwayne Johnson's Previous Comments on Black Adam Exit

When Gunn and Safran were announced as the newly appointed DC Studios co-CEOs, everything about the DC Extended Universe was in flux. Johnson took some time to release a statement about his future as Black Adam, as he needed to talk with Gunn and Safran, who told them that the character wasn't part of their plans.

"My passionate friends, I wanted to give you a long-awaited Black Adam update regarding the character's future in the new DC Universe,"Johnson revealed in a statement. "James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling. However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters. James and I have known each other for years and have always rooted for each other to succeed. It's no different now, and I will always root for DC (and Marvel) to win and WIN BIG. You guys know me, and I have very thick skin – and you can always count on me to be direct with my words."

Black Adam starred Johnson and also featured Aldis Hodge (Underground, The Invisible Man) as Hawkman, Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I Love Before, Charlie's Angels) as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell (Trinkets, Euphoria) as Cyclone, Sarah Shahi (The L Word, Sex/Life) as Adrianna Tomaz, Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye, Mamma Mia!) as Doctor Fate, and Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz. Uli Latukefu, Marwan Kenzari, Mohammed Amer, James Cusati-Moyer, and Bodhi Sabongui also appear in the DC film.

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on the rebooted DC Universe as we learn it!

What do you think about Dwayne Johnson's comments about his Black Adam exit? Do you agree with what was said about the film? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @NateBrail up on Twitter!

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