In a world where bankable stars who can carry their own franchises are increasingly rare - Vin Diesel, Tom Cruise, formerly Johnny Depp perhaps - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson still commands Hollywood's confidence. So far, he's been a part of no less than five major franchises, which are either ongoing or had expansive plans, and Disney's approach to franchising IPs would suggest that Jungle Cruise will kick off a series too.
Almost every movie Johnson makes is aimed squarely at two things: blockbuster season and the potential for a sequel or - even better - a franchise. It doesn't always work out, as in the case of the recently canceled San Andreas 2, but Johnson's savvy as a producer and his goodwill with audiences makes it more than likely that his starring heroes will return in some way. Impressively, Johnson has also carved himself a space in Hollywood as the go-to actor to reinvigorate sequels; the sort of charisma injection that even Vince McMahon still counts on when he calls The Rock back for his sporadic WWE special appearances.
Usually, actors attach themselves to one franchise - like Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible - but Johnson has spread himself across several in his impressive post-wrestling career. The question though - with one eye on how Jungle Cruise and Black Adam might expand in future and join the ranks - is which of Dwayne Johnson's franchises is best.
5. G.I. Joe
In a weird coincidence, Dwayne Johnson has so far appeared in three franchise sequels that originally starred Brendan Fraser, as if Hollywood were somehow typecasting him in the most oddly specific way. While G.I. Joe: Retaliation didn't see him replace Fraser, his involvement did bring an impressive injection of action hero muscle and charisma. With Channing Tatum bowing out early in the sequel in explosive fashion, Johnson was designed to be the tonic to revive the G.I. Joe team. Critics were not bowled over, and while it's better than G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, Retaliation was never smart enough to feel like much more than a cash-in. Spin-off Snake-Eyes has now rebooted the series, but Johnson is still reportedly attached to sequel G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant, which will hopefully dial things up enough to really take advantage of the IP. If the film-makers can borrow some of the Fast & Furious franchise's eye for escalation and spectacle - which this series should be perfectly suited to - the future may still be bright.
4. Journey
This time taking over leading duties from Brendan Fraser, who had starred in Journey To The Center Of The Earth, Dwayne Johnson feels more like the future Jumanji and Jungle Cruise Disney lead than some of his other early roles in Journey 2. And while the franchise is not his alone, he wears Fraser's hat well in the sequel and would have been the star had the canceled Journey 3 gone ahead. The movie itself is largely a stranger to Jules Verne's source material, but it's good fun and has a distinct feel of 1970s fantasy adventure flicks despite its limitations. Johnson is, inevitably, very watchable, but there's not quite the added layer of Jumanji to add depth. There's no edge and Johnson feels less like he's been brought in consciously to play a defined role and more like anyone could have played the character.
3. The Mummy
Brendan Fraser's The Mummy movies are great for the most part, harking back to a swash-buckling time when family-friendly adventure movies could still be scary without really compromising on the fun. But Dwayne Johnson's part in The Mummy Returns is still something of a sore point and the Scorpion King spin-off was not his finest moment either. Even catering to a game audience expecting not very little, the poor special effects, cheesy dialog and suspiciously familiar set-up failed to really take advantage of The Rock's charm. It would take a few years until Hollywood really realized that the key was balancing his physical prowess with charm and a slither of cockiness and here it feels like the magic is yet to be really bottled.
2. Jumanji
By the time Dwayne Johnson was cast in the Jumanji reboot/sequel, his movie star credentials were already sealed, to the point that his recycled "Rock eyebrow" was used in the marketing campaign. When a facial expression can be monetized in trailers, you know you've arrived. And Jumanji delivered on the promise of expanding the world of the original without compromising on the beloved Robin Williams family classic. Seeking not to replace Williams' work, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle offered a subtle but touching tribute to him, packed in a great cast and combined the golden age adventure movie vibes (with a heavy Indiana Jones vibe at times) with a knowing humor that guaranteed its franchise potential immediately. One sequel is already in the bag and more is, thankfully, set to follow.
1. The Fast Saga
While Jumanji offers Johnson more of a chance to flex his family-friendly muscles, his part in the Fast & Furious franchise fits more with the edgy, charm-infused spirit The Rock learned in WWE. Dwayne Johnson may have fallen out with Vin Diesel, but his appearance in Fast Five was one of the key moments in the series impressive transformation into a billion-dollar draw (aside from the pandemic-influenced F9). Even without him, the nitrous-infused franchise was prime action escapism, even it quickly moved away from its original Point Break-aping model, but with The Rock, it had something extra. Though he's no longer in the main-line Fast & Furious movies, Johnson's chemistry with Jason Statham meant Hobbs & Shaw (and its inevitable follow-ups) felt like a distillation of everything that made his Agent Hobbs great in the first place. And surely he and Diesel can somehow work a way around getting him in for the franchise's rumored Endgame-style final chapter. The money counters at the studio will surely be pulling hard for it to happen, at the very least.
