It was easy to look back and laugh at Dwayne Johnson‘s claims that he was going to change the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe with Black Adam when his heavily-touted debut ended in disaster, but it’s beginning to look as if he may have accomplished his goal; just not in the way anybody intended.
Hindsight is always 20/20 for a reason, but it can’t be ignored that The Rock’s one-and-done dip into the waters of big screen superheroism can technically be viewed as the starting point for the franchise’s downward spiral. He was heavily criticized for reportedly rejecting a cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods and blocking Zachary Levi’s would-be appearance in Black Adam, but he dodged a bullet after it became the biggest flop in DCU history.
The Flash – which was heralded as one of the greatest comic book adaptations of all-time – scored a worse domestic and worldwide opening weekend than Black Adam, fared worse among audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and may not even match it at the box office office by the time it finishes up its theatrical run.
Black Adam also reverberated through the shared universe by reintroducing Henry Cavill’s Superman into the mix, with the actor then shooting a guest spot for The Flash that ended up on the cutting room floor, so maybe it’s better off that Johnson’s contributions remain isolated in terms of the grand scheme of the multiverse.
After back-to-back bombs with two more major releases still to come, Black Adam could yet end up having its head held high as the old DCEU’s highest-grossing title in the five years since Aquaman broke records, which is something nobody could have seen coming.