Earlier today, Dwayne Johnson tweeted that he and DC Comics have agreed on a character for him to play. But is this Lobo, the space bounty hunter that Johnson has been linked to for years? Or John Stewart, the Green Lantern? We had a chance to talk to the Rock about his superhero role, and here's what he told us.
Johnson has long been attached to a movie about DC Comics' badass space bounty hunter, Lobo. He talked about this on his Twitter back in 2012:
The last we heard about the Lobo movie, Johnson's Journey 2: The Mysterious Island director Brad Peyton was involved but that was a long time ago. But judging from our conversation with Johnson yesterday, it sounds as though he may be ready to bring back the Lobo hype.
Just yesterday, we participated in a roundtable interview with Johnson about his new Hercules movie, and the subject of DC Comics movies came up. Originally, someone asked Johnson about an instragram post he made, with the hashtag #johnstewart — but then he seemed to hint that the Lobo movie is actually still happening. Here's how it went down:
What's up with that? What's going on there with the whole namedropping John Stewart thing? I'm curious.
Dwayne Johnson: I love John Stewart!
So let's address the green elephant in the room. Are you going to be Green Lantern?
Dwayne Johnson: [Laughs] Okay, well since you asked. We're all friends. So, you know, there's been mutual interest with myself and DC for many years to find the right character. I, like everyone here in the room, love superheroes. So there's been mutual interest with us for years, and we've been having ongoing discussions, myself and DC, for years about the right character, what the right character would be. That's another thing, too: It had to be right.
It was going to be Black Adam [in the Shazam movie] for a while, right?
Dwayne Johnson: Well, here's the thing — so we've been having these ongoing discussions. I won't tell you who it is, but I'll tell you the three qualities we're looking for, okay? This is going to be fun!
Does he wear a ring?
Dwayne Johnson: [Laughs] Can't say that, but here we go. Here are three qualities. 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.
The other quality was that he had to — the character we were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life. Then 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.
The third thing — and most important — is he had to be a badass motherfucker, okay, and on a Superman level of power, where he could throw down. In those three qualities, I'm happy we've found that character. Right now, we're out to a lot of writers.
Do you think maybe you'll be at Comic-Con saying for certain what it is?
Dwayne Johnson: Comic-Con or CinemaCon?
Comic-Con. We'll give you some time.
Dwayne Johnson: Yeah, I think time, man! We need to find a writer. When is that, June? July? Yeah, possibly. So how about that? He had to be well-known —
Is this a character that you could be cameoing in another franchise, or if this is something that you are doing on your own, with your own movie?
Dwayne Johnson: Possibly, but we haven't discussed that — not you and I, but in terms of me and DC. [Laughs] But possibly, sure. You never know.
And there you have it—he didn't say he's playing Lobo, but he definitely hinted that this character is a major powerhouse, who could carry his own movie. The attributes he's listed—a "badass motherfucker" who hasn't been adapted before and is at a Superman level power-wise—certainly sound like Lobo. And they're looking for writers, which also makes it sound like a standalone project—rather than just a part in Batman Vs. Superman or a Justice League movie.
We'll have way more from The Rock later this week — including everything he told us about playing the son of Zeus in Hercules. Stay tuned, and for now check out the Hercules trailer.