Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi confirmed that the similarities shared by Korg's boyfriend, Dwayne, with megastar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson are by design.
Waititi recently tweeted an intriguing image of Love and Thunder's newly introduced Kronan, Dwayne, photoshopped into an iconic '90s era photo of The Rock sporting gold chains and a fanny pack. The image was delivered in response to a fan who pointed out the name choice, to which Waititi added, "No coincidence baby."
Thor: Love and Thunder saw the return of fan-favorite Korg, a member of the rocky alien race known as Kronans. Despite suffering major damage throughout the course of multiple run-ins with the deicidal Gorr the God Butcher, Korg finds a happy ending during the film's conclusion. After the dust has settled, Korg finds a partner in fellow rock person Dwayne (Dave Cory), with whom he conceives a child by holding hands over a lava pit. Yet, many fans immediately noticed the character's thinly veiled reference to a certain famous wrestler turned Hollywood icon.
Apart from being a not-so-subtle Easter egg, the moment may have also retconned Korg's previous history in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be more in line with the character's comic book counterpart. Waititi previously commented on the ways his films and TV shows, notably Our Flag Means Death, explores queer romances and their relatability to audiences. He explained, "We're all queer. Just to varying degrees of where we are on the [sexuality] spectrum, I think. I think, innately, humans have all got some degree of queerness in them."
Johnson, who eventually adopted the ring name "The Rock," rose to prominence after signing onto the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) roster in 1996. His first silver screen appearance came just a few years later in 2001's The Mummy Returns. In the years since, Johnson has become an industry A-lister in his own right, with a long list of big-budget action films and family comedies to his name as a headliner. He has also become an indelible part of both the Fast & Furious and Jumanji franchises.
The superstar's next starring role will be as the titular antihero of the upcoming DC Extended Universe feature film Black Adam. Johnson has previously opened up about how he personally impacted the direction of both Black Adam and the Shazam! movies, starring Zachary Levi, from which the former was spun. Johnson recalled, "When we all read the script, I immediately felt like, 'We have to separate these two movies. We have to honor Shazam! and that origin story and what that is and what that can be for the fans and then we also have to tell our story, too, as well.'"
Thor: Love and Thunder is in theaters now. Black Adam is slated to premiere on October 21.
Source: Twitter