Meet Clark “Doc” Savage, the square-jawed pulp comics hero of the 30’s and 40’s you never knew you wanted so badly. Why do you want him? Because he is going to be played by Dwayne Johnson in a movie directed by Shane Black.
Black’s The Nice Guys is sure to be remembered as one of the funniest films of the year. It featured Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe doing some of the best work of their careers. Black knows how to get that out of people — his Iron Man 3 is of the best films in the MCU for that reason (and many others).
So now Black is bringing his trademark humor and offbeat sensibilities to Doc Savage. The official announcement came from Dwayne Johnson’s Instagram account, which tells us that Anthony Bagarozzi (Black’s writing partner on The Nice Guys) and Chuck Mondry (Black’s writing partner on an upcoming Death Note adaptation). Johnson’s announcement emphasizes the humor in the upcoming project, describing Savage as a “f***ing hilarious weirdo” who “has zero social graces whatsoever”.
This potentially ironic take on the hyper-masculine hero might be precisely what the doctor ordered. Savage was known as The Man of Bronze in his day, providing DC Comics with the inspiration for Superman. Heck, Savage had an Arctic Fortress of Solitude before Supes ever did. That’s how seminal the character is. A fun new riff on this proto-Superman (who saw stints at both Marvel and DC) will be an interesting counterpoint to the pseudo-villain Superman of the DCEU.
This is delightful news. The Rock is the square-jawed, preposterously muscled pulp hero of our age, which makes him perfect for the role. Johnson will also produce the film under his Seven Bucks Productions banner. A release date has not yet been set.