Dwayne Johnson appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night to promote his new film Black Adam and to treat the audience to tickets to the premiere.
Johnson, also known as “The Rock” (in case you’ve been living under one), is best described as a mega superstar and former wrestling entertainer who is a multi-talented athlete extraordinaire. He also happens to be one of the biggest box office draws of the last 20 years, with his films earning over $12 billions dollars globally. He began his ascension to Hollywood stardom with his role as the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns in 2001 after gaining fame by laying the smackdown on opposing wrestler’s in the WWE.
Black Adam is an anti-hero in the DC Universe, first appearing in 1945 in comic book form and became known mostly as an adversary of Shazam. Now, he earns his own film thanks to the Rock’s love for the character and push to make it happen ever since he was named to the role 15 years ago.
Johnson explains the anti-hero aspect of the Black Adam character by saying:
“Black Adam has all the powers that Superman has but Superman won’t kill because he has a code of honor and a code of ethics that we appreciate and love….but Black Adam will kill you.”
Johnson goes on to explain that he wanted to get in the best shape of his life for this role and took it so seriously that he told Jimmy Fallon, “I got one shot with Black Adam. It’s the most important movie of my career and I pushed all chips in and I worked my a** off.”
Although Johnson doesn’t specifically explain why he believes it’s the most important role of his already highly accomplished career, one can safely assume it’s because he’s been a fan of DC Comics since he was a kid and especially of Black Adam, as he mentioned numerous times before.
The Rock also thanked Jimmy for being welcoming to him throughout his career, toasting him by saying,”You’ve been the best to me even at a time when not everybody was.”
The New York City premiere of Black Adam was shortly after the taping of his appearance on The Tonight Show. Before his interview segment ended, he re-emphasized what the movie means to him, saying, “Biggest premiere of my life. Biggest movie of my entire career.”
