New Information on Dwayne Johnson's DC Strategy

James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-presidents of DC Studios, are slated to shortly share their multiyear, interwoven vision for the DC cinematic universe, which includes a young Superman movie without Henry Cavill in the lead.

The plan will signal a fresh beginning for DC after a turbulent year that included the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, the cancellation of "Batgirl," a controversial "The Flash" movie, Henry Cavill's brief two-month return to the Superman role, and the entire "Black Adam" saga, in which actor Dwayne Johnson attempted (and failed) to alter the "hierarchy of power" both on-screen and behind-the-scenes.

Variety has just published a fresh article about Johnson's failed attempts to exert authority over DC. According to the report, Johnson and his team—producers Hiram Garcia and Beau Flynn—directly pitched Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav on a multiyear plan for "Black Adam" and a Cavill-led Superman that would set up a Superman-versus-Black Adam showdown project not long after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger closed in April.

They avoided previous DC president Walter Hamada and Warner Bros. film executive Toby Emmerich in doing so, which, according to people in the trade, "ruffled feathers internally." Even though Emmerich decided in 2018 that Superman needed to be recast, Cavill eventually received approval for a cameo in "Black Adam" from the new Warner Bros. film co-heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy.

Then, after spending $195 million on production costs and an additional $40 million for reshoots, "Black Adam" underperformed at the box office, earning just $391 million globally. Cavill's dreams of playing Superman were dashed, and any ideas for additional "Black Adam" movies were destroyed.

The fact that Johnson was pushing for a producing credit on the animated "DC League of Super-Pets" movie and Warners was getting impatient with him did not help. The site is told by a source that "his demands rose and the results simply weren't there."

According to the publication, some execs are open to keeping Ezra Miller in the role after the debut of "The Flash" in June because he has avoided controversy since starting mental health therapy in the summer. Gunn and Safran's approach does indeed allow for other potential returnees, including Gunn's own Peacemaker characters and Aquaman, Shazam, Blue Beetle, and.

Even the directors of the canceled "Batgirl," Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, say they are open to working with Warner Bros. in the future and stated last month that one requirement would be for the film to actually be released.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has apparently created a new movie combo pack comprising "Man of Steel" and "Black Adam," which is reportedly available for purchase through various digital retailers, according to Slashfilm. This is the final amusingly awful timing. The pack reportedly went on sale the day after new DC Studios president Gunn disclosed he was working on a new young Superman movie without actor Henry Cavill.