Why Dwayne Johnson is furious at DC Studios for firing Henry Cavill

Dwayne Johnson is not too happy with DC Studios. By the time Black Adam was finally released on October 21, 2022, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had been teased as playing the character for o a decade. However, it seems that when the project finally happened, the actor and former WWE superstar wanted to claim a more central spot in the DCEU.

Black Adam sadly opened to mediocre reviews and ended up making $389 million at the box office, against a budget of $190-230 million. While it's not exactly a flop, it's one of the more underwhelming offerings from the DCEU.

The film also teased a grand return of Henry Cavill's Superman. Sadly, a subsequent Black Adam project seems unlikely due to the film's performance and the regime change in DCEU. Henry Cavill also won't return to DCEU for Man of Steel 2. Here's why Dwayne Johnson is angered by this move.

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Industry insider claims that Dwayne Johnson wanted to use Henry Cavill

A report states Dwayne Johnson wanted to take over the DC franchise

Black Adam and the JSA (Image via Warner Bros.)

Henry Cavill hasn't had a chance to play Superman since 2017. Dwayne Johnson presumably had DCEU for the taking with his Black Adam role, and Henry Cavill was instrumental in this.

On Friday, December 16, two days after Cavill announced that he would not be returning as Superman, The Hollywood Reporter revealed word from an industry insider who claimed that the decision was made to prevent Dwayne Johnson from controlling the DCEU:

“In the end, he was a pawn in Dwayne’s failed attempt to control a piece of DC.”

This makes sense since Johnson stated that he fought tooth and nail for years to bring Henry Cavill back as Superman. While it was perfectly timed, Black Adam couldn't arouse enough excitement from fans.

Henry Cavill in Black Adam post-credit scene (Image via Warner Bros.)

DCEU has gone through some immense changes in the last five years. We saw the theatrical disaster that was Justice League (2017) and a couple of subsequent projects that seemed all too disconnected from each other. While Black Adam is a spin-off of Shazam, there was no reference made to the film apart from the wizard, and nothing was explained that bridged the two together.

James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over DC Studios only resulted in the inevitable, which was Henry Cavill's official exit from DCEU and Dwayne Johnson turning a blind eye to the whole thing. We will see another Superman project, but James Gunn now wants to focus on the earlier aspect of the Man of Steel.

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Dwayne Johnson's reaction to Henry Cavill's DCEU exit

A poster for Black Adam (Image via Warner Bros.)

Dwayne Johnson has been very vocal about Black Adam and bringing Henry Cavill to the front. Following Cavill's announcement, he allegedly unfollowed the pages of both Black Adam and Warner Bros. on Instagram. While he countered the accusations, saying that he never followed either of the accounts, the star seems to be unconcerned with the whole situation.

Instead, he's promoting his upcoming film Red One, which is an Apple TV exclusive project. The star didn't even comment on Black Adam's arrival on HBO Max, which otherwise might have aroused a lot more reaction from him.

James Gunn and Peter Safran will introduce their DC slate at the beginning of next year, which will reveal everything they have in store for DCEU.

We can expect the release of upcoming projects like Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Aquaman 2, and Blue Beetle, but what comes afterward is yet to be announced.