Dwayne Johnson addresses Henry Cavill’s Superman exit after Black Adam return – We “put our best foot forward”

Dwayne Johnson broke silence on Henry Cavill's DCU exit on the Oscars red carpet.

March 14, 2023 - 1:01 PM IST

Dwayne Johnson has finally addressed Henry Cavill’s exit from DC Universe as Superman following the actor's return in the Black Adam post-credits scene. “All that I can do, and all that we could do when we were making ‘Black Adam,’ was to put our best foot forward and surround ourselves with the best people and deliver the best movie we could,” Johnson said on the red carpet. “Our audience score was in the 90s. Critics took a couple shots, but that’s just the business of it.”

Dwayne Johnson addresses Henry Cavill’s Superman exit after Black Adam return – We “put our best foot forward”

He added, “It’s almost like when you have a pro football team and your quarterback wins championships and your head coach wins championships and then a new owner comes in and says, ‘Not my coach, not my quarterback. I’m going to go with somebody new.'”

As Variety notes, Johnson is referring to new DC Studios’ new heads James Gunn and Peter Safran announced shortly after Black Adam arrived in theaters last October. After Black Adam’s opening weekend, Cavill publicly announced his return as Superman. Two months later, Gunn announced that Cavill would actually not be Superman in the new DC Universe.

The news came along with the announcement that he was writing a new Superman film that focuses on the superhero’s early days. The film, titled Superman: Legacy, is currently scheduled for a 2025 release date. Cavill had reprised the role of Superman in Black Adam for the first time since 2017's Justice League.

As the report notes, in bringing back Cavill’s Superman for a post-credits' scene appearance, Johnson was laying the groundwork for his own DC Universe where the relationship between Black Adam and Superman would be mapped out across multiple films.

“James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling,” Johnson shared with fans last December. “However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters.”

He added, “After 15 years of relentless hard work to finally make Black Adam, I’m very proud of the film we delivered for fans worldwide. I will always look back on the fan reaction to Black Adam with tremendous gratitude, humility and love.”

Also Read: Dwayne Johnson starrer Black Adam to premiere on Prime Video on March 15, 2023