Dwayne Johnson expresses confidence in the future direction of DC Universe

Warner Bros. Discovery's movie studio has been through a series of restructurings this year, with frequent changes at the top. Despite the turmoil, the studio has a very powerful ally as it tries to find its rhythm.

“This is a unique moment in the superhero genre, bringing in new blood and new characters on both sides — at Marvel and certainly at DC,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, star of the upcoming Black Adam, told The New York Times this week.

"The launch of Black Adam converges with the time when they are also bringing in new leadership at Warner Bros., and new leadership is coming on the DC side. I have great confidence in the direction of the DC Universe. It's going to require real strategy and real leadership. It requires us not to look at the success of Marvel and say, 'Let's follow that blueprint.' That's Marvel. I'm very happy for them. In my opinion, we don't want to be Marvel. We want to be DC, and we want to do it our way."

Dwayne Johnson's extensive use of "we" demonstrates his sense of identity and collaboration, and he hopes that his hobby project "Black Adam" is just the beginning of collaboration.

"I've been saying for a long time that a new era of the DC Universe is about to begin," Johnson said. "What I really mean by, 'This is a new era of the DC Universe,' is listening to the fans. And doing our best to give the fans what they want."

This view was echoed by David Zaslav, the boss of Warner Bros. Discovery.

"We've reset. We've structured the business," Zaslav announced on the company's August earnings call. "There will be a team that is focused on the 10-year plan for DC. It's very similar to the structure that Alan Horn and Bob Iger put together very effectively with Kevin Feige at Disney. We think we can build a long-term, more sustainable growth business outside of DC, and as part of that, we're going to focus on quality. We're not going to release any movie until we're ready."