The new DCU revamp with James Gunn and Peter Safran has cleaned house of the former faces of DC, with Black Adam next to receive the boot.
Although Black Adam didn’t receive critical acclaim upon release, according to Box Office Mojo the film has been widely profitable in its theatrical run time, which more than doubled its budget of $195 million worldwide. Although the film has been a success, the new DCU has other plans for the universe, namely it is moving forward without the character ‘for now.’ Who better than to announce the indefinite hiatus, than Dwayne Johnson, the anti-hero himself. Johnson posted the update on the character on his social media accounts Tuesday.
This of course comes directly on the heels of the huge cancellation of the third Wonder Woman film and the response by the director Patty Jenkins due to fan backlash; Johnson’s previous hype announcement of the return of Cavill’s Superman which was also dismantled by another move from the new heads of the DCU, with Cavill himself making the announcement of his departure. All-in-all it seems the DCU will be moving on without many of the pillars that started the initial productions, Black Adam included.
Johnson goes on to state “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,” with “These decisions made by James and DC leadership represent their vision of DCU throught their creative lens,” regarding the move away from the anti-hero. It’s worth mentioning the original Black Adam film was in development purgatory for over a decade, and this is really not promising news for the characters cinematic future.
The new DCU is shaping up to be a brand new production without some of the faces fans have grown to recognize as their heroes — Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill and now Dwayne Johnson — and whether this will be a positive or negative change will rest on future developments.
