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Dwayne Johnson calls Black Adam a “once-in-a-career” role

Dwayne Johnson considers his performance in DC movie Black Adam to be very different to his previous work, because that's what production required

Dwayne Johnson in Black Adam

We’re all gearing up for Dwayne Johnson coming to the DCEU in Black Adam. He’s been talking up a storm about the action movie, to the point he considers this a pivotal role for his time in Hollywood. As he tells Total Film, he’s deeply committed to this enterprise.

“After being in this business for many years, Black Adam is a once-in-a-career character. I realise, going in, you’ve got one shot, and the pressure’s on,” he says. “You’ve got to dive headfirst into the fire. Because, also, the superhero genre has been busted wide open in the greatest of ways in our business, and has been responsible for some of the greatest movies ever made. So that’s the measuring stick.”

He’s not wrong. Superhero movies are everywhere, and have been for a decade now. Marvel movies have dominated the box office, with DC movies and other properties making sure that we’re never far from some caped crusader or other on the silver screen. Granted, this one has the advantage of being a Dwayne Johnson movie, but the man himself believes it’s not one we’ve seen before.

“There’s a lot of elements about Black Adam that are dependent on your perspective,” Johnson says. “Is he a supervillain? Is he an anti-hero? To some, he is just a straight-up superhero. There are just natural elements, I think, in me, that are part of my DNA that we see in the character of Black Adam. [But] it is a departure from anything that I’ve played before in the past. A complete departure.”

Black Adam is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, and features Johnson as the titular hero who, after being locked away for millennia, returns to wreak havoc on the world. There’s more than a shade of evil Superman in the trailers so far, and Johnson has been touting that the power dynamic of the whole DCEU is going to shift.

Not long to wait to find out – Black Adam opens October 21, 2022. Have a look at our guide to Aquaman 2 for more from DC’s finest.