Credit: Warner Bros.Dwayne Johnson is on a pretty big losing streak. Of course, he remains one of the biggest movie stars in the world and is successful on a level that most people in any industry will never achieve, but it is increasingly noticeable that he seems to be getting shut out of the kind of huge franchises that he was once a mainstay of.
Most notably, Dwayne Johnson has been blamed for essentially tanking the DC Extended Universe with his star vehicle Black Adam (2022), which promised to reset the malfunctioning Zack Snyder franchise and reform it in his own image. That might be a bit unfair, considering that both Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) and The Flash (2023) flopped hard without any involvement from Johnson, but it seems the damage has already been done to the star’s reputation.
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Dwayne Johnson Not in Consideration for ‘God of War’
i have literally never heard anything about this.
— the fake cory balrog (@corybarlog) June 26, 2023
Dwayne Johnson has been fan-cast as Kratos, the grim, gray-faced protagonist of the God of War series of games, for years, with rumors recently resurfacing that he would star in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video adaption of the franchise. However, Cory Barlog, the creative director behind numerous God of War games and one of the most significant figures in its development, shut that down. Hard.
Cory Barlog succinctly puts that particular Dwayne Johnson casting rumor to bed, which is notable considering that he is also an executive producer on the show (along with Vertigo’s Roy Lee, Santa Monica Studio’s Yumi Yang, and PlayStation Productions Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan) and could be expected to be in the know about these things.
‘God of War’ Still Has Not Cast Kratos
Although it seems that Dwayne Johnson is no longer on the table, Amazon Prime Video has not yet revealed if it has cast Kratos or not. Many God of War fans have pushed for Stargate actor Christopher Judge (who voiced Kratos in the 2018 God of War and its sequel God of War Ragnarok) to take on the role, while others have pushed for Johnson’s fellow former professional wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista. There have been rumors of everyone from Chris Hemsworth to Arnold Schwarzenegger to Jason Momoa being under consideration, but still no confirmed word as of yet.
Dwayne Johnson Will Not Appear in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Franchise
Dwayne Johnson was also rumored to enter to the Pirates of the Caribbean for quite some time, either replacing the now-controversial and Disney-averse Johnny Depp as the centerpiece of the franchise or starring in his own spinoff. Reports indicate that Disney has dropped those plans, shutting him out from yet another huge series.
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It is also notable that Dwayne Johnson seems to have been minimized in the Fast & Furious franchise, reportedly after conflicts with series lead Vin Diesel. Johnson appeared in an uncredited post-credits cameo in Fast X (2023) but otherwise has not appeared in the main series since Fate of the Furious (2017). His own spinoff sequel has been in development for years but still remains up in the air.
As it is, it sure seems like Hollywood is souring on the idea that every franchise could use a dose of Dwayne Johnson. Sorry, God of War fans.