Dwayne Johnson Dismisses ‘Black Adam’ Criticisms: ‘That’s Just The Business Of It’

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has likened Henry Cavill’s Superman’s exit from the DC Universe to a football team getting a new coach and deciding you’re “not my quarterback.” Henry’s Superman comeback becomes one of the casualties of the new regime as the DC slate of films has been undergoing an overhaul ever since James Gunn and Peter Safran took over.

Amid debate over the decision, Dwayne has claimed they put their “best foot forward” with the film with Henry back as the superhero alongside Dwayne in the titular anti-hero role and made “the best movie we could.”

Speaking to Variety, he said, “All that I can do, and all that we could do when we were making ‘Black Adam,’ was to put our best foot forward and surround ourselves with the best people and deliver the best movie we could. Our audience score was in the 90s. Critics took a couple shots, but that’s just the business of it.”

On Henry’s exit, Dwayne added, “It’s almost like when you have a pro football team and your quarterback wins championships and your head coach wins championships and then a new owner comes in and says, ‘Not my coach, not my quarterback. I’m going to go with somebody new.’ ”

“Black Adam” also isn’t part of the “first chapter” of the takeover. The Rock said in a previous statement, “I wanted to give you a long-awaited Black Adam update regarding the character’s future in the new DC Universe.”

“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 utilised in future DC multiverse chapters.”

He insisted he will “always root” for both DC and Marvel to succeed, and he remains “very proud” of ‘Black Adam’ as a movie. He continued, “You guys know me, and I have very thick skin – and you can always count on me to be direct with my words.”

“These decisions made by James and DC leadership represent their vision of DCU through their creative lens. After 15 years of relentless hard work to finally make Black Adam, I’m very proud of the film we delivered for fans worldwide. I will always look back on the fan reaction to Black Adam with tremendous gratitude, humility and love. We did great.”

He also promised to “always listen” to fans and joked he needed some of his own Tequila after an eventful few weeks. He added, “To my very passionate and vocal Black Adam/Super Hero genre fans – I love you, THANK YOU, and I will ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOU and do my best to deliver and entertain you. What a helluva month – now we all need some Teremana!”

Responding to Dwayne’s statement, James teased plans to “collaborate” in the near future. He tweeted, “Love the Rock, and I’m always excited to see what he and Seven Bucks do next. Can’t wait to collaborate soon.”