Dwayne Johnson has made it clear that he badly wants an earth-shattering clash between his Black Adam and Henry Cavill’s Superman. And without a doubt, we can all admit that this battle will be remembered for ages if it ever receives greenlight from Warner Bros Discovery. As for fans, they do not mind witnessing this confrontation. They just want to see Cavill donning the cape again. And even if we get a ‘Black Adam vs. Superman’ battle on the big screen, will it be enough to save the entire DCEU?
DCEU got a turbulent start in the form of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013). It served as a visual feast for action lovers but made little sense to those people who loved Christopher Reeve and the charisma he brought to the table while portraying the iconic DC superhero. However, Cavill’s take on ‘The Last Son of Krypton’ received a much better audience response in BvS (2016). And after watching the actor once again in Snyder’s Cut of Justice League, fans got convinced that Henry Cavill is the one and only Superman.
It makes sense why Johnson is fighting tooth and nail with WBD to get a ‘Black Adam vs. Superman’ movie. Yes, you read that right! An entire movie on this gigantic clash! In his recent talk with CinemaBlend, the actor revealed that the whole point of making Black Adam was to plant the seeds of a future showdown between the anti-hero and Superman.
“I have been saying for some time, there’s a new era in the DC Universe that’s about to begin,” Johnson said. “And what I meant by that was introducing a brand new character. It’s not a sequel, not an existing IP… Two years ago the world had no idea who [Black Adam] was. We did, but not the rest of the masses out there. What I really meant by, ‘This is a new era in the DC Universe,’ is listening to the fans. And doing our best to give the fans what they want.”
Hiram Garcia, one of the film’s producers, also discussed the potential on-screen future for Cavill and Johnson.
“It’s never been about a one off or just about a fight,” Garcia disclosed. “No, it’s about so much more than that. 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.”
How does ‘Black Adam vs. Superman’ make sense?
Most of the powers of Black Adam and Superman are similar. The only notable difference is that the former can generate lightning blasts from his hands or produce a powerful explosive blast from the sky and the latter treasures some unique abilities like heat vision, super-hearing, and freeze breath. In short, both guys are evenly matched. Although, Black Adam may take full advantage of his ruthlessness. On the other hand, we cannot expect Superman to become as savage as Black Adam.
Why relying too much on ‘Black Adam vs. Superman’ is a bad idea for DCEU?
Imagine we somehow get a movie based on the fight between Black Adam and Superman in future. Then what? Will it be enough to save the DCEU? The answer is a big fat no! The entire franchise is much bigger than a clash between two of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe. Also, we cannot ignore the other members of the Justice League.
The Flash actor Ezra Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, recently pled not guilty to the charges of burglary and petit larceny. If convicted, Miller would get a maximum sentence of 26 years of imprisonment.
According to various reports, Miller had a deep conversation with Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, co-chairpersons of Warner Bros Pictures, about the future of The Flash some time ago. The actor’s behaviour was apologetic and he promised to seek professional care. But the latest controversy has made things more arduous for the studio.
Then there is Amber Heard’s involvement in James Wan’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Fans do not want the actress in the sequel after she lost the highly publicised defamation suit against her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, earlier this year. Warner Bros is yet to comment on the screen time the actress will get in the film. Although, Ben Affleck’s presence as Batman may help the project.
Patty Jenkins has also finished the script of Wonder Woman 3. The acclaimed helmer confirmed this in a recent panel appearance at this year’s Matera Film Festival in Italy.
“Where I said that I was only going to do one, then oh my god, I have to do two. And then, I find myself saying, ‘Oh my god, I’m antsy to do three,’ And so, even now I say, that’s because I always plan a three-movie arc. There is a story that goes through these different movies as a whole. But even now, I just wrote last week the final scene of Wonder Woman 3 and I thought, I might be interested to see what happens next. So, you’ll never know. They have asked us to think of ways to do more and it accidentally happens. But you’ll never know. I have a lot of other films that I’m excited to do as well. And I love Gal Gadot so that makes it better, too,” said Jenkins.
The previous WW entry (2020) suffered from a janky script, storyline cliches, and a lack of action sequences. Also, it received a simultaneous release in theatres and on HBO Max due to the COVID-19 restrictions. As a result, it ended up losing nearly $100 million.
All the things mentioned above prove that DCEU’s future needs a lot more than the clash between Black Adam and Superman to rejuvenate itself. Warner Bros Discovery has taken several steps to reorganise the entire superhero franchise. The recent merger and David Zaslav’s leadership have resulted in the cancellation of many projects including Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s Batgirl and the Wonder Twins and Supergirl movies. Also, there won’t be a DC FanDome event this year, much to our disappointment. Fans are unsure where the conglomerate is heading with this approach.
Black Adam is out now in theatres in various countries including India. It will have a worldwide release on October 21. Will we see Superman in it? Watch the movie to find out! Stay tuned for more updates.
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