The Rock addressed the Henry Cavill Superman fiasco on the Oscars red carpet

The Rock had a plan. He wanted his DC movie. black adam to launch a new angle of the DCU, what it would end up leading to a battle between his divine warrior and Henry Cavill’s Superman. To achieve this, Dwayne Johnson and his team at Seven Bucks Productions have worked hard to imply black adam in a post-generic sequence . It’s just that plans have changed. James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC’s former regime at Warner Bros., then decided to play Superman again for the next DC film. Superman: Legacy. This left to quibble in the cold , and The Rock was asked about it on the champagne carpet at the Oscars Sunday. Here’s what he had to say:

As Dwayne Johnson says when asked by Variety (via Brandon Davis in ComicBook) about what happened to Henry Cavill, the only thing he and his team could control was black adam, make the best movie possible, and hopefully establish a story that fans would love to follow. The Rock says his audience rating was in the ’90s: He’s 88% fresh. rotten tomatoes – but he admits it the reviews took a lot of beatings in the movie, so they couldn’t continue.

The bigger problem is that the old Warner Bros. regime allowed Henry Cavill actually record a video and tell fans that he’s officially back as Superman, and is very excited to continue telling stories as DC’s primary hero. He was uplifting, for Cavill and for his fans. Until that’s not the case anymore.

But The Rock didn’t stop there. Without actually calling James Gunn, he called James Gunn, but framed criticism of him in a sports analogy that makes sense, even if it’s sad for those he loved black adam . As you described, a new owner has taken over your team. And even if the existing coach and quarterback were successful (although Rock exaggerates the level of success), new “owners” Gunn and Safran wanted to cast Superman.

We won’t know who will replace Henry Cavill for some time. James Gunn won’t even confirm that he’s directing Superman: Legacy, and we all know how important casting will be for that role. Partly because this new Superman will be the cornerstone of the DC Universe going forward. But also, unfortunately, because the new actor will be compared to Cavill until he gets a chance to put his own stamp on the character. DC fans aren’t always nice, so we’ll see how that goes.

And kudos to The Rock for taking this tough question, handling it gracefully, and allowing DC Films to move forward.