With the release of Black Adam just a little over a week away, The Rock is making the promotional rounds and bringing all the charismatic charm that made him one of the most popular figures in the world of wrestling. In fact, he’s actually inviting comparisons to his days in the WWE.
During an interview with Polygon, writer Matt Patches asked The Rock if he drew inspiration for the DC Comics antihero from his infamous heel turn in 1998. It was a question that The Rock was totally here for.
“Man, I love that you said that,” The Rock said with a laugh before launching into a history lesson on how he delivered one of the greatest heel turns as the “Corporate Champion” of the wrestling world. Via Polygon:
At that time, wrestling was a lot different. The Attitude Era was much more violent. We got away with a lot of shit that you could not get away with today. While people may not have agreed with the heel Rock, they all understood why he was doing what he was doing because I had the opportunity to talk about it — and talk shit in that way that The Rock did. So there were a lot of parallels there. The connection to Black Adam is that while you may not agree and you may interpret him as a supervillain, antihero, protector, even a superhero… you may not agree with his philosophy, but everyone understands.
While it’s not known what side of the line Black Adam will land on when the dust settles in his debut film, one thing is for sure: He’s throwing down with Superman. In another recent interview, The Rock made it clear that the “whole point” of launching Black Adam is to build towards a showdown with the Man of Steel. The Rock might not be in the ring anymore, but he still knows how to pump up a fight.
You can smell what Black Adam is cooking in theaters on October 21.
