It’s no secret pro-wrestler-turned-action-star Dwayne Johnson already has an incredible physique.
But for his role in “Black Adam,” an upcoming “Shazam!” spin-off due in December 2021, the actor has already started training in the gym like a superhero. Er, make that an anti-hero.
“The hierarchy of power in the #DCUniverse is about to change,” Johnson wrote on Instagram Friday. “#NewEra #AntiHeroTraining #BlackAdam”
The accompanying picture shows Johnson with veins bulging from his arms as he clutches a bar with massive weights on both ends. He also posted two more photos of his Rockness working out with dumbbells, as well as an animation of his Black Adam form.
“So it begins,” he wrote along with the animation, which shows him levitating in his black and yellow Black Adam gear, followed by a flash of lightning and the film’s release date. “Kickin’ off 2020 training extremely hard for my upcoming role as BLACK ADAM. This one’s in my blood.”
He added, “Shooting begins this summer.”
The 47-year-old actor described how playing a superhero fulfills his childhood dream in an Instagram post in November.
“Like most kids growing up, I dreamed about being a superhero,” he wrote. “Having cool superpowers, fighting for what’s right and always protecting the people. It all changed for me, when I was 10yrs old and was first introduced to the greatest superhero of all time – SUPERMAN. As a kid, Superman was the hero I always wanted to be.”
However, Johnson said “a few years into my fantasy, I realized that Superman was the hero, I could never be.”
“I was too rebellious,” he added. “Too rambunctious. Too resistant to convention and authority. Despite my troubles, I was still a good kid with a good heart – I just liked to do things my way. Now, years later as a man, with the same DNA I had as a kid – my superhero dreams have come true.”
Johnson described his character Black Adam as “blessed by magic with the powers equal to SUPERMAN, but the difference is he doesn’t toe the mark or walk the line.”
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson fulfills childhood dream with his ‘rebellious’ DC superhero debut
“He’s a rebellious, one of a kind superhero, who’ll always do what’s right for the people – but he does it his way,” Johnson continued. “Truth and justice – the BLACK ADAM way.”
Johnson capped off his post describing his gratitude for the opportunity.
“This role is unlike any other I’ve ever played in my career and I’m grateful to the bone we’ll all go on this journey together,” he wrote.
Every Dwayne Johnson movie role (including ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’), definitively ranked
