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Is the Rock Black Enough to Play John Henry?

The Rock's new movie has him playing the black folk hero 'John Henry'

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson recently shocked most of Black Twitter in apparently ways he didn't anticipate when he announced he is set to play folklore legend John Henry in a new Netflix film.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday evening, the action star revealed in a teaser clip that he will by portraying the beloved African-American folklore hero in the movie John Henry and the Statesmen.

In the caption, he explained that he is excited to play one of his "childhood heroes" in the project, which will feature an ensemble of what he called "the most popular folklore figures and legends from different cultures around the world."

"The legend of JOHN HENRY'S strength, endurance, dignity and cultural pride was instilled in my DNA at a very young age," he continued. "My dad would sing 'Big John' to me every time he would put me to bed."

Take a look at the video teaser announcement below:

  • Johnson, who is also confirmed to produce the film, is keeping it in the family as he recruited Jake Kasdan, whom he worked with on Jumanji, to direct.

    Almost immediately following the initial announcement, Twitter users began expressing their outrage over his casting, claiming that Henry was clearly portrayed as a dark-skinned Black man, which Johnson obviously is not — the Fast & Furious star is mixed race, as he is the product of a Black father and a Samoan mother.

    See how the Twitter community feels about his casting, below:

  • What's your take on this?

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