Dwayne Johnson Just Put Another Nail In The SnyderVerse Coffin

The Rock’s Black Adam is coming to theaters, and the Dwayne Johnson passion project is set to move the DCEU even further away from the Snydervse. While the DCEU originally started as a followup to Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, the franchise saw a number of course corrections following divisive movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and troubled productions like Justice League. Currently, the DCEU canon after Zack Snyder’s Justice League is still up in the air, but upcoming movies like Black Adam suggest that the franchise is indeed distancing itself from the SnyderVerse.

While no DCEU movie after Justice League provided any technical reboots regarding what had been established in the Snyderverse, they have also not followed any major storyline from Snyder’s original five-movie plan. At the moment, the DCEU seems to be focusing on solo stories that do not have to rely on the Justice League movies, such as Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Black Adam. The only exception to this seems to be The Flash, which is set to bring Michael Keaton’s Batman to the DCEU through a multiverse story and will also see the return of Ben Affleck's Batman. That said, despite being a solo entry, Black Adam seems to be crucial for the DCEU’s future.

During DC’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, The Rock teased that Black Adam will “usher a new era for DC films.” While Dwayne Johnson did not get into detail about how exactly Black Adam will inform the DCEU canon going forward, it’s clear that the movie is trying to create its own mythology without relying on previous events from the Snyderverse. For example, the Justice Society in Black Adam appears to be an established group of superheroes, which is interesting given how they were never mentioned in Batman v Superman or Justice League. Considering that DC Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee said that there are no current plans for a Zack Snyder Justice League sequel, it makes sense for Black Adam and future DCEU movies to be treated like the starting point of a new phase in the franchise.

How Cavill's Superman Can Fit Into The New DCEU Era

Henry cavill superman black adam shazam fury of the gods

The Rock’s Black Adam vs. Henry Cavill’s Superman is something that both casual and dedicated DC audiences have been dreaming to see for a while. In fact, after more than five years went by since Henry Cavill shot his last scenes a Superman for Justice League, Black Adam became audiences’ main hope to see the DCEU Superman returning. Shazam had teased this possibility with a Superman cameo at the end, except that Superman’s face was never shown. At the moment, it is not confirmed whether Henry Cavill’s Superman will appear in Black Adam. In fact, Dwayne Johnson revealed during SDCC that the outcome of a Black Adam vs. Superman fight depends on “who is playing Superman.”

The lack of an official announcement regarding Henry Cavill’s return as Superman in Black Adam or any other DC projects will likely be seen as disappointing. Still, this suggests that the future of the DCEU is still not set in stone. The Snyderverse is clearly not continuing, at least not with the originally planned Zack Snyder movies, but there are elements from the Justice League saga that could still play a part in the DCEU depending on what future movies might need. For example, Amanda Waller will appear in Black Adam, and the Viola Davis character has been a part of the DCEU since 2016's Suicide Squad.

In a way, Black Adam can be to the DCEU's next few years what Man of Steel was for the early years of the franchise. Obviously, Black Adam is far from being a moral center for the super teams like Superman, but the character has enough potential to lead a new side of the DCEU. Between Black Adam’s promised new DCEU era, The Flash’s multiverse story, and the expansion of The Suicide Squad and DCEU TV, DC is proving that the franchise has moved on from the Snyderverse.

Next: Black Adam's DCEU Costume Has A Deeper Meaning Than You Realize

Want more San Diego Comic-Con 2022 coverage? Check out our essential content below...