First Disney, Now This: Another Dwayne Johnson Series Reportedly Cancelled

Disney’s effort to maintain its clean reputation, especially when it comes to dissociating with stars who may give them bad press is well known. One of the best examples of this is Johnny Depp and Disney’s dropping him during his trial. Depp was accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife, Amber Heard, after which the veteran actor lost a lot of contracts, including his most iconic and famous role as Captain Jack Sparrow as part of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Now that his name has been cleared, there have been rumors swirling around that he might reprise the role again.

Related: Johnny Depp Has Officially Been Replaced

However, Depp isn’t the only actor to be replaced in the recent past. Another actor who has become beloved in the Disney community was recently rumored to be replaced for another Disney role.

Former WWE star-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

On the news of his recent lawsuit from WWE star and model Trenesha Briggers, AKA Rhakha Khan, it appeared that Dwayne Johnson was also looking at losing one of his contracts with Disney.

Related: First Johnny Depp, Now Dwayne Johnson to be Replaced

Dwayne Johnson as Maui, the Demi-God

In Disney’s animated feature Moana, Johnson voiced Maui, the trickster demi-god. It was a role he received a lot of positive criticism for and was one that he became widely popular after. Moana was a critical and commercial success, pulling in over $690 million worldwide. It was nominated for several awards and even holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating near-universal acclaim.

It’s no surprise that Disney decided to make a live-action remake of the movie and cast Dwayne Johnson as Maui in the remake as well.

However, after Johnson’s lawsuit against Trenesha Briggers came to light, it appeared that he might lose the role. And now, per a recent report from Deadline, it seems another Dwayne Johnson show might also face the axe.

Young Rock on NBC presents a fictionalized version of Dwayne Johnson’s life, focusing on his childhood and formative years and early experiences in the wrestling world. It premiered in 2021 and was created by Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang. From the article,

Little has been heard about Young Rock suggesting it will not come back but Johnson’s involvement, along with the show’s solid delayed-viewing lifts, could see it return.

Nahnatchka Khan, Jeff Chiang, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Jennifer Carreras, Hiram Garcia, and Brian Gewirtz serve as executive producers, and the show is produced by Universal Television, Seven Bucks Productions, and Fierce Baby Productions.

Only time will tell what the fate of the show will be.