We’ve heard some wild MCU rumors in our time, but this one might just be the most Omega-level ridiculous of them all. Marvel has only recently gotten the script in order for its upcoming live-action X-Men reboot, but according to word on the street, Kevin Feige already has eyes on the film’s main villain. And it’s apparently Dwayne Johnson… as Apocalypse?!
No, I’m not putting much stock in this claim, and neither should you, but now that this Pandora’s Box has been opened it’s all the MCU fandom can talk about. And not in a nice way. Dwayne, if you’re reading this and you see your name trending on X, you might not want to find out why.
Let’s put it this way: if the hierarchy of power in the MCU is about to change, then Marvel fans don’t want it.
If I had a nickel for every time Dwayne Johnson had played an Egyptian supervillain that he’s not equipped to play… et cetera, et cetera.
Yes, as we saw with his short-lived stint at DC with Black Adam, not to mention with the Fast & Furious franchise, Johnson has a habit of trying to bend shared universes around himself, so this notion is what’s putting a lot of people off him joining the MCU.
Not to mention the widely made claim that he has a clause in his contract stopping him from losing any on-screen fight. You’d think that would be kinda hard to maintain if he was the villain of an X-Men film.
Dwayne Johnson as the Apocalypse of the MCU? Or Dwayne Johnson is the apocalypse of the MCU?
As you can see, this rumor originally surfaced back in May, but now it’s being claimed once again, as of October 2024, which carries the unpleasant inference that there’s more weight to this wayward casting call than we’d like to think. Get ready for Black Adam. 2.0, I guess.
Marvel making Dwayne Johnson the X-Men’s nemesis would be a bad idea for mutantkind
Again, there really is nothing pointing to this rumor being remotely true, but seeing as it just won’t die (a bit like En Sabah Nur himself), let us ponder the question à la the Watcher. Should Marvel hire Dwayne Johnson for the MCU, in the X-Men reboot or elsewhere? Well, doing as the fans demand often isn’t the best play, but in this case Kevin Feige should definitely listen to the masses and keep the Rock away from his toys.
While Johnson was once known as “franchise Viagra” those days are behind far behind him, and his Black Adam era really speaks to why he just wouldn’t be a good fit for Marvel. With DC suffering from a power vacuum at the time, Johnson attempted to cast himself as both the new face of the franchise and its creative head, even bringing back Henry Cavill’s Superman just ’cause he felt like it. When James Gunn came along, though, Dwayne was out the door immediately.
Feige himself has ousted actors who got to big for their boots — notably Edward Norton as Hulk, who wanted increasing creative control over the character. A few years ago, when the Rock was a guaranteed box office draw, it might’ve been worth the headache, but now there’s no real benefit to bringing Johnson aboard, except for the headlines and internet discussion it would generate. But we know all too well at this point that these things don’t necessarily translate to ticket sales.
And, for what it’s worth, The Rock would be better suited for Juggernaut, anyway. Just sayin’.