The Rock really wants audiences to see him beat up Superman

Black Adam finally hits theaters tomorrow, following a press tour that extended decades—or, at least, it felt like decades. We’ve heard about The Rock making Black Adam since 2007, but in the last few months, he’s revealed the actual reason he wanted to play Black Adam so badly: He wants people to see him beat the shit out of Superman.

Big muscular guys love Superman, especially sports stars. Who could forget Shaq playing the Death Of Superman interim-Superman, Steel? The Rock’s done this on a few occasions, too, tweeting that “Superman is on the mend” in 2013 after his doctor repaired three hernial tears (“fun pain”). But in the last five years, he’s gone from “I’m Superman” to “I’d like to kick the shit out of Superman.”

In 2015, long before Black Adam was the I.P.-related forced success story of the fall, he predicted, “One day you will see Black Adam go at it with Superman or Batman or any of the DC characters. But that said, there’s a great independence to Black Adam from the DC world, allowing us to inject, not only viciousness, but also winking humor.” Later that year, he had Henry Cavill over to promote various liquor brands together. Little did Cavill realize that this was a preamble to Rocky smacking the ever-loving shit out of him in front of God and the whole world.

But the Rock significantly escalated his desire to kick the shit out of Superman in the last year. In 2021, after the release of the Black Adam trailer, a critic dared question whether Superman could take down Black Adam, forgetting that Black Adam is willing to kill. “Remember, Superman’s greatest weakness isn’t kryptonite, it’s magic. Black Adam’s greatest superpower is magic. They both fly at light speed. They both are unstoppable forces. But only one will kill the other. And we know who that is.” Sounds fun!

Now, in the runup to Black Adam, The Rock’s just telling people that he’d like to punch Superman so bad he dies, and he wants everyone to see it. Earlier this month, he told Cinema Blend that fighting Superman was “the whole point of this, man.”

But producer Hiram Garcia says it’s not just about folding Superman like laundry in one movie, but rather several. “It’s never been about a one-off or just about a fight,” Garcia said. “We really want to craft a long form of storytelling and show that these two characters exist in the same universe and are going to have to deal with each other often, either on the same or opposite sides. Hopefully, they’re going to clash at some point, but it’s not just about a ‘one fight’ situation. That was never our dream. That does not reward the fans. Fans want to feel a journey between these guys knowing that these guys exist in the same universe.”

Fans won’t just be rewarded. Dwayne Johnson can fulfill his lifelong dream of giving Superman the People’s Elbow to prove that he’s stronger than a fictional character. Still, with all this talk about whether or not the Rock is going to beat up Superman coming from the people who made Black Adam, it makes one wonder: Will Henry Cavill be in Black Adam?