Avengers: Endgame Director Reveals Who the Rock Should Play in the MCU

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, but he has yet to step into one of the big superhero franchises that are out there, and fans feel some kind of way about it. While at the 2019 MTV Movie Awards, Avengers: Endgame director Anthony Russo was asked where The Rock could fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he had a clear vision that scenario.

According to Anthony Russo, the best character for The Rock to play in the MCU would be, “The superhero that I would most like The Rock to play is The Rock. He is the best version of him.”

On the one hand, that’s kind of a disappointing answer for any Marvel fan who has been dreaming of seeing Dwayne Johnson suit up as one of their favorite Marvel Comics heroes or villains. On the other hand, it’s not the craziest idea to have The Rock appear in the MCU as himself – it might actually be one of the funnier MCU appearances that we’ve seen in awhile. Films like Thor: Ragnarok have made great use of celebrity cameos in ironic roles – it would be next-level meta humor to have The Rock appear as an MCU version of himself.

Of course, a major cameo from The Rock would probably knock him out of the running for a major recurring role in the MCU – but that might be okay. After all, Johnson is already set up for a major run in the DC Films universe, playing Shazam nemesis Black Adam. After being stalled in development limbo for awhile, Black Adam recently got director Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows, Orphan, Non-Stop) attached. That’s a pretty good sign that Black Adam is moving forward, and that The Rock will soon be making the superhero movie debut that moviegoers have been waiting for.

…Not that Johnson is somehow slacking right now. He’s poised to end summer in a big way when his Fast & Furious spinoff film Hobbs & Shaw hits theaters; after that he has the sequel to his smash hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and the movie adaptation of Disney’s Jungle Cruise ride, which is also being directed by Collet-Serra. If all of that wasn’t enough, The Rock just achieved the small feat of winning the Generation Award at the 2019 MTV Awards, pretty much solidifying him as a pop-culture icon. The man stays working!

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw hits theaters on August 2, 2019; Jumanji 2 hits theaters on December 13, 2019; Jungle Cruise hits theaters on July 24, 2020.