DC Comics epic 'Kingdom Come' is a 'dream project' for Dwayne Johnson, according to producer

This summer, Dwayne Johnson will finally fulfill a years-long dream with the release of Black Adam, his DC Extended Universe debut, in which he stars at the title antihero. Black Adam has been a long time coming, but the film's ambitious setup, including the arrival of the Justice Society of America on the big screen, seems to have made it all worth it. It's a big moment for Johnson and his longtime producing partner, Hiram Garcia, but it's not the only big DC Comics ambition the pair have discussed. According to Garcia, they've also got their sights set on another massive DC Comics story. 

Speaking to Collider about a wide range of projects in development at Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions, Garcia (who's starting his fifth year as President of Production at Seven Bucks) touched on everything from the upcoming Christmas action film Red One to a third Jumanji film to Johnson's tequila brand, Teremana. Johnson, as always, has a packed schedule, and Garcia's right there alongside him, so there are always plenty of things to talk about. When asked what the studio's "dream project" might be, though, Garcia immediately had just one answer. 

"Look, I think the dream project that's something we've always spoken about at Seven Bucks, we would love to make someday, which is a tougher ambition due to, obviously, IP and rules and so forth, but always been obsessed with Kingdom Come, the Mark Waid/Alex Ross joint that those guys did," Garcia said. "I think that storyline was always so compelling. We've always envisioned it as kind of an epic, multi-film saga. I think that's something we've always dreamed of being able to do. If there was ever a dream project, and not trying to start a fire where it's like we're gunning after that, because it's just pie in the sky, you'd love to be able to tell the story, and I always admired that story of the juxtaposition of old-school heroes versus new-school heroes and how they clash and a world so divided in terms of how they view what is justice now and what was it and what should it be. It’s always just always something very compelling in the big, cataclysmic mash-up of old versus new. That's something that, look, in a perfect world, we could do it, would love to do it."

Created by Mark Waid and Alex Ross and first published in 1996, Kingdom Come is a massive "Elseworlds" story that envisions a dark future in which more traditional superheroes like Superman and Wonder Woman have been pushed aside in favor of edgier vigilante figures like the powerful figure known as Magog. When Superman attempts to reform the Justice League and restore some sense of his brand of justice to the world, he's met with resistance, including from Batman, who activates his own team of heroes in an effort to strike a balance between force and strategy. The result is an epic superhero battle that might mean the end of humanity. 

As Garcia noted, Kingdom Come is a massive story, one that he and Johnson are well aware would take some significant movement by other key players to get things rolling on the production side, so it's not like they're trying to push that into production tomorrow. It's also interesting to note that Black Adam, a character Johnson's hoping to make a signature role, isn't a key figure in the original story, which means Johnson and Garcia might just be in for sheer love of the material, or they might find a way to make Adam a bigger piece of the adaptation. Whatever the case, now we know what Seven Bucks Productions considers a dream project, and maybe one day they'll get the chance to make it real. 

For now, though, Garcia and Johnson are heavily focused on Red One, which Garcia noted should shoot later this year for a 2023 release date on Amazon Prime Video.