Who knew the wrestler-turned-actor would be among Hollywood's highest-paid actors? The Fast and Furious star earned $36 million this year and helped the franchise earned its highest-grossing film in 2011.
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesWondering just which DC Entertainment character Dwayne Johnson will be playing as part of his teased deal with Warner Bros.? The onetime Rock isn’t saying just yet, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not offering up a couple of cans of beans just ready to be spilled.
“The first quality we were looking for was that he had to be extremely complex and have a lot going on. What that does for me as an actor and the studio is it gives us space that we can explore his complexities,” Johnson explained during a promotional appearance for Hercules at CinemaCon on Monday.
STORY: Coming in 2014: DC Entertainment, The Rock Team Up
“The other quality was that he had to — the character we were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life,” he went on to add. “What that does again as an actor, it gives me a little bit of space, and we talked about personality. It just gives me a chance to put an imprint into his personality, with the set of tools that I could bring to the table and put a very unique twist on his personality, but still pay homage to who he is.”
Never brought to life? Well, that would appear to knock out rumors that Johnson would be playing Shazam, who’s previously appeared in live-action form in the 1970s TV series of the same name that ran on CBS Saturday mornings. Then again, so does Johnson’s telling journalists that his character “had to be a badass motherf—er” and “on a Superman level of power.” Shazam may be the latter, but he’s never been the former.
Signs still point to Johnson playing Green Lantern John Stewart, who has the power thing going on, the recognition factor thanks to the Cartoon Network Justice League animated series and yet has never appeared in live-action form. Plus, of course, there were those Instagram and Twitter teases from February. Clearly, someone needs to ask him if his character would be useful in both the blackest night and the brightest day.
