Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Will Play "World's First Superhero" Doc Savage

Dwayne Johnson is a very busy man, with Baywatch, Fast & Furious 8 (and a potential spin-off), San Andreas 2, a Jumanji remake, and an adaptation of classic arcade game Rampage all lined up for the next few years. Johnson has now added another movie to his schedule, with the announcement that he is to star in Doc Savage.

Johnson took to Facebook to confirm that he would play the classic hero in a film to be directed by Shane Black, who helmed Iron Man 3 and the newly-released The Nice Guys. Johnson wrote:

It's OFFICIAL: For all comic book fans you already know the world's first superhero (pre-dating Superman) is the "Man of Bronze" himself Clark "Doc" Savage.

Want to thank my bud director/writer Shane Black and his writing team Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry for flying in from LA and sitting with me and our Seven Bucks Productions's producer Hiram Garcia on this Memorial Day weekend to chop up creative and break story on this very cool project.

Doc was physically and mentally trained from birth by his father and a team of scientists to become the perfect human specimen with a genius level intellect. His heightened senses are beyond comprehension. He can even identify a women's perfume from half a mile away. He is literally the master of everything. But here's the #1 reason I'm excited to become Doc Savage... HE'S A F*CKING HILARIOUS WEIRDO!

The heroic adventurer first appeared in Doc Savage Magazine in 1933, and has featured in a wide variety of pulp magazines and comic books over the decades. He gained more prominence when many of those original magazine stories were reprinted in the 1960s as novels, and in 1975 the flop movie Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil was released.

Black has been looking to make a Doc Savage film for several years, and Thor star Chris Hemsworth was at one stage being considered for the role. In March this year, Black stated that Johnson was now his first choice, telling Thrillist: "We're hoping to make it sometime next year. I would very much like to do Doc with a fellow named Dwayne Johnson if we can make that work. I made a decision that Dwayne is the guy.”