Dwayne Johnson has been busy with his return to the WWE and seems to have taken a break from his acting career. While the actor will be next seen in this year’s Moana 2 in a voice role, Johnson has yet to announce a large-scale blockbuster as he has not seen a hit in the past few years.
Johnson’s last film role was in the DCEU film Black Adam, which turned out to be a box-office disaster. The film saw him finally enter the DC universe after years of speculation but the film ended up being a failure. However, the actor has now been rumored to have been offered a place in the MCU and if insider information is to be believed, he will be playing a popular X-Men villain.
Dwayne Johnson has headlined many blockbusters and has given commercially successful films such as the Jumanji franchise. The actor has balanced his wrestling career, acting career, and his business ventures, and he has seen success in all of them through the years. But lately, The Rock has not been seeing great numbers at the box office with his films.
While Johnson’s tenure at the DCEU turned out to be short (like many other DCEU projects), the franchise seems to have lost the heavy hitter to its rival, Marvel. Though Johnson has mentioned multiple times that his loyalty has been with the DC universe, the disastrous results of Black Adam may have led the actor to the other end of the spectrum.
Now, there seems to be a rumor about who Johnson could play in the MCU. According to popular scooper MyTimeToShineHello, the actor has been tapped to play the popular X-Men villain Apocalypse. It was not confirmed whether Johnson would be appearing in any of the other films first or will only be seen in the X-Men reboot.
The character is one of the many formidable villains of the X-Men and has been known to crossover with other characters in the Marvel universe. He is one of the first mutants and has been regarded as one of the most powerful beings in the universe. He was portrayed by Oscar Isaac in Fox Studios’ X-Men: Apocalypse.
In the X-Men comics, Apocalypse is one of the most powerful villains and is part of the mutant domination school of thought. Being one of the first mutants in the world, En Sabah Nur a.k.a Apocalypse had been abandoned as a child in the harsh deserts of Egypt before being adopted by a nomadic tribe. He is imbibed with a ‘survival of the fittest’ ideology, which shapes his future actions (via Marvel).
Apocalypse is a God-like figure who has been around for centuries, regenerating due to his mutant powers and becoming more powerful as he connected with Celestial technology. The character has crossed paths with the X-Men on multiple occasions and has been one of the group’s most formidable villains.
Dwayne Johnson’s penchant for playing characters of Egyptian origin (The Scorpion King and Black Adam) may be the perfect fit for Apocalypse who also has his origins from the region. Johnson’s own imposing presence could match the God-like aura of Apocalypse. However, fans do not seem to like the idea.
Why does it seem like Dwayne Johnson is always playing some kind of Egyptian character? First The Scorpion King, then Black Adam, and now “allegedly” Apocalypse
— Aiden (@fantastic580) May 7, 2024
As long as we get more of a CGI Thanos look over the Fox Ivan Ooze look, I don’t care who plays him.
— ProfessTheFilmFan (@TristansMancave) May 7, 2024
For the love of God can we not?
— Jake (@Jake_Green8) May 7, 2024
This has got to be the most uninspired casting idea ever.
— Edens Relic (@EdensRelic) May 8, 2024
Are they 100% sure they want to work with Mr. Tardiness lol
— Ⓜ️🅰️®️K (@iamthemarkman) May 8, 2024
As the MCU expands beyond the Avengers, the franchise has been tapping stalwarts to portray many characters in the universe. While actors such as Henry Cavill, Ryan Gosling, and Ben Affleck have been rumored to be in the running for several characters, there have been no confirmations.
