Dwayne Johnson has guaranteed that Black Adam and Superman will clash on the big screen, but will we see Henry Cavill in the suit?

“That is the whole point of this, man,” Johnson told CinemaBlend. With Black Adam just weeks from his much-hyped DCEU debut, it’s been no secret that the biggest action star in the world wants to see the King of Kahndaq square up with the Man of Steel. He’s made several statements on the subject, reportedly fought for a Superman cameo in Black Adam, and he’s even posted pictures of himself with Henry Cavill. No doubt, Johnson is determined to give fans the big bout one way or another. 

The biggest obstacle standing in the way has been the Cavill/WB situation.

Following the abysmal failure of the Joss Whedon Justice League in 2017, the entire DCEU was on the chopping block. It left Cavill’s time as Superman in doubt, and the plot only thickened when negotiations for a Man of Steel cameo in 2019’s Shazam fell apart. Famously, a stunt double wore the suit for a neck-down scene, but Cavill has been MIA for five years now. 

Meanwhile, there’s been a new CW Superman as well as two other Kryptonian-centric projects. The first was the J.J. Abrams/Ta-Nehisi Coates take on the character that would see the first-ever African-American Man of Steel in a movie. Shortly thereafter, Michael B. Jordan announced that his studio would produce an HBO Max show starring alternate-dimension Superman, Val-Zod. Of course, all has been quiet on both those fronts for months now, and there’s no word on their status after Discovery’s WB takeover. 

On the plus side...

The shroud of doubt draped over Abrams and Jordan’s Superman projects has kept those Cavill hopes alive. There have been rumors galore of him returning to the superhero scene one way or another. The gossip swirled that Cavill would appear at DC’s San Diego Comic-Con panel before word spread that he would take the stage during Marvel’s D23 presentation, though he was at neither event. 

For his part, Cavill has not ruled out a return to the role, but whether or not he and Warner Bros. Discovery are close to being on the same page is another story. With Johnson’s Hollywood clout, if there’s anyone who can make things happen, it’s him.

Judging by his recent comments, Johnson is feeling pretty confident. “I have been saying for some time, there’s a new era in the DC Universe that’s about to begin,” he explained in the CinemaBlend interview. “And what I meant by that was introducing a brand new character. It’s not a sequel, not an existing IP. It was… you know, Black Adam. Two years ago the world had no idea who he was. We did, but not the rest of the masses out there. What I really meant by, ‘This is a new era in the DC Universe,’ is listening to the fans. And doing our best to give the fans what they want.”

Comic fans might raise an eyebrow at Johnson’s opinion that no one knew Black Adam’s name before the upcoming movie, but he’s definitely put the character into the mainstream spotlight. (We’ll ignore the fact that the Ancient Egyptian Black Adam speaks with an American accent in the film. Still, the trailers look good.)

Having Johnson hype a potential Black Adam-Superman movie will cause a new wave of interest for D.C. Comics Presents #49.

In this issue, we have our first fight between Superman and Black Adam. Of course, this was a team-up story with Supes joining sides with Captain Marvel to take on Teth Adam. Still, being the first matchup between the defenders of Kahndaq and Metropolis, it’s worth adding to your collections. When it comes to the direct edition, the graded 9.8 has been averaging close to $350 since the end of September. On the other hand, the newsstand at the same grade sold for an even $1k in February. 

There’s little doubt that we will see Superman go toe-to-toe with Black Adam in all its live-action glory. Whether or not Cavill will be sporting the blue and red is the bigger question, but it seems that Johnson is trying to make it happen. On behalf of all the Cavill-Superman fans, thank you, Rock.

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