Warning: SPOILERS for DC League of Super-Pets are in play. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, we’re about to discuss the post-credits stinger.
The DC Extended Universe has always been a mixed bag when it comes to which upcoming DC movies get a post-credits stinger and which ones don’t. It’s not a practice as uniformly implemented as it is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so you never know where the next one will come from. This is why when DC League of Super-Pets actually had one of those sequences built in, it was quite a pleasant surprise.
What’s even more shocking is how Dwayne Johnson practically willed it into existence, and wound up voicing three different characters in the process. This is your last warning for avoiding DC League of Super-Pets spoilers. From this point on, it’s time to get into some super-powered madness thanks to a meeting between a very good boy and a self proclaimed anti-hero.
Why Dwayne Johnson Played Black Adam, Anubis, And Krypto In DC League Of Super-Pets
Here’s a quick rundown of what happened in the post-credits scene for DC League of Super-Pets. Basically, after the events of the film, Superman (John Krasinski) and Krypto (Dwayne Johnson) go back to the park to play a round of fetch with Krypto’s favorite toy: Squeaky Bruce.
This peace doesn’t last for long, as a new pair of anti-heroes arrive, in animated form, at this very Metropolis park: Black Adam (also Johnson) and his dog Anubis (also Johnson). There’s some verbal patter about the meaning of an “antihero,” which Anubis totally claims himself to be, and that’s basically what happens before the scene ends.
While I spoke with co-writer/director Jared Stern during the press day for DC League of Super-Pets, I had to ask him about a couple things. First, I was curious if Dwayne Johnson might have been recast in the roles of Black Adam’s anti-heroic lead and his four-legged friend. After all, this is a separate continuity, and that might be too much even for the ever prolific Johnson to carry off. According to what Stern told CinemaBlend, there was only one way a recasting would have ever happened:
The only reason we would do that is if it sounded too much [like] you couldn’t tell who’s talking to who. We tested it out when we Dwayne do it. We had him a bit lower and do a slightly different voice for Anubis, who’s Black Adam’s dog. We put a little effect on it, we tested it out, and were like ‘This is great! It’s fun!’ You could tell it’s him talking to him, but it feels like two different people, in the most fun way. And, of course, he’s also Black Adam too, using a third voice. So I just [thought] why not push it until it breaks? We’ve got three Dwayne Johnsons in one scene. That’s the perfect way to end a film.
It’s a scene that fits in perfectly with the tone and humor that DC League of Super-Pets was aiming for. Unsurprisingly, Dwayne Johnson played all three roles, and it actually worked like a charm. It’s a good thing it did too, because the entire Black Adam stinger was Johnson’s idea in the first place.
How The Black Adam Post-Credits Stinger Came To Be
Undoubtedly stemming from his obsession with pitting Black Adam against Superman, another tease to the future of DC Comics cinema was born. Further diving into this sequence’s existence, Jared Stern was able to confirm that Black Adam wasn’t originally scripted to be a part of the film. Though he was a bit fuzzy on just how Dwayne Johnson had come up with the idea, Stern did know that it was The Rock himself who created that moment with this recollection:
That came later. I can’t remember exactly how. I wanna say that it might have been Dwayne’s idea to have a Black Adam dog in the movie too, which we loved. And we just had to figure out the right way to do it. So thank you to him for that.
There is one person who remembers how DC League of Super-Pets got its last laugh into the film. For the full answer to this question, we’ll have to go to the source, as Dwayne Johnson actually divulged the whole story not too long after this animated movie opened. Per his Instagram post, here’s how Johnson remembers roping Black Adam and Anubis into the action, along with a photo of Anubis for reference:
As he’s been known to do in the past, The Rock used the powers of his Teremana brand of tequila to give DC League of Super-Pets an extra gag. That’s right, folks, Dwayne Johnson creates and celebrates with his liquor, with this example firmly falling into that first category. What’s more, Johnson went big on an announcement that he’s looking forward to expanding not just the Super-Pets universe, but also that of Black Adam.
How those plans will be affected by the shake-ups at Warner Bros. Discovery is yet to be said. For now, the fact that DC League of Super-Pets took the top box office spot this past weekend might work in its favor. But just in case, Dwayne Johnson may want to save some Teremana to outline his big plans so that he can pitch them as effectively as possible to the new management.
We’ll see if Dwayne Johnson and friends can give the public what they want, as DC League of Super-Pets is entering its second week in release. Judging on how Johnson is a huge Taylor Swift fan, perhaps he’ll think up a way to cast the singer as a new super-pet waiting to make their debut.
