The Internet exploded over news that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will play Black Adam in DC Comics’ upcoming Shazam movie. Considering The Rock’s insane level of popularity, this bodes well for an intellectual property that lacks more iconic heroes like Batman and Superman. An untold number of people will take interest in Shazam because of his involvement with the project.
Personally, we do mental fist pumps every time The Rock announces an upcoming movie role. We grew up watching the most electrifying WWE Superstar in history lay the smack down on the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind and Triple H, capturing title after title. The guy has charisma to spare, is built like a Mack Truck (seriously, what the hell) and is a quality actor. That last part is perhaps the most important, considering wrestling fans suffered through quite a few Hulk Hogan stinkers (hello Suburban Commando) in the 80s and 90s, along with WWE’s forgettable The Marine starring John Cena.
On that note, let’s get to it. Video game films don’t have the best track record, and The Rock dabbled in the official DOOM movie, but we think he’d fill the following roles nicely. That said, here are the video game characters we’d most like to see him play on the big screen.
Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)
Should EA choose to bring Mass Effect to theaters, Dwayne Johnson is at the top of our list to play the lead. Every Mass Effect fan knows default Shepard’s face; BioWare based the character’s appearance on this guy’s handsome mug. One of the best things about the Commander, though, is the fact that players are free to alter his appearance however they see fit, even switching him female. Multiple interpretations of Shepard allow The Rock to easily slip into this role. He’d kick alien butt, have a commanding screen presence and wouldn’t have much trouble (if at all) with a little romance with his able bodied crewmates.
Chris Redfield (Resident Evil)
In the interest of millions… and millions of Resident Evil fanatics across the globe, Capcom needs to reboot its survival horror franchise, especially when it comes to movies. Milla Jovovich did a respectable job blasting zombies and nasty mutants in five RE films with yet another on the way. Now it’s time for a different type of flick with a brand-new cast, and quite frankly, The Rock is a perfect fit as Chris Redfield. Not in 1996 mind you, back when the S.T.A.R.S. member resembled an average guy. Fast forward to Resident Evil 5 and he packed on what, 30 pounds of muscle? The guy is super jacked beyond belief and so is The Rock. Not only that, but we’ve already seen him wield multiple weapons in his action films, from DOOM to the Fast & Furious movies. Dwayne Johnson plus zombies is a huge win, and the type of Hollywood star power that would make casuals take notice of a Resident Evil film once again. On the flip side, he might make a good Albert Wesker in the obvious villain role.
B.J. Blazkowicz (Wolfenstein)
OK, this one may require some backstory to pull off (B.J.’s dad is Polish, we swear), but come on. We wouldn’t mind seeing The Rock slaughter Nazis in some alternate post World War 2 reality, similar to Bethesda’s reboot, The New Order. Hit the Nazis Reich where it hurts. Bad, we know.
Which video game heroes or villains would you like to see The Rock play? Bionic Commando? Strider? Perhaps someone from Call of Duty? Are we out of our minds? Let us know.
Published: Sep 4, 2014 05:40 pm