Dwayne Johnson is playing Doc Savage, but who exactly is he?

Actor Dwayne Johnson will play the title role in the Sony Pictures adaptation of Doc Savage to be directed by Shane Black.

Updated on: May 31, 2016, 13:04:24 IST

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Actor Dwayne Johnson will play the title role in the Sony Pictures adaptation of Doc Savage.

Doc was physically and mentally trained from birth by his father and a team of scientists to become the perfect human specimen with a genius level intellect.

Shane Black is directing the movie from a script he co-wrote with Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, reports variety.com.

One of the inspirations for the character Doc Savage is the story of a man with superheroic levels of intelligence and strength (who happens to be a brilliant scientist, inventor, and explorer), which began as a series of pulp novels and a radio series.

Black made it clear while promoting his film The Nice Guys that he wanted Johnson for Doc Savage, and the San Andreas actor made it official on his Instagram account on Monday.

It's OFFICIAL: For all comic book fans you already know the world's first superhero (pre-dating Superman) is the "Man of Bronze" himself Clark "Doc" Savage. Want to thank my bud director/writer Shane Black and his writing team Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry for flying in from LA and sitting with me and our @sevenbucksprod's producer @hhgarcia41 on this Memorial Day weekend to chop up creative and break story on this very cool project. Comic book fans around the world know that the cool thing about "Doc" Savage is that he's the inspiration for Superman. First name Clark, called "Man of Bronze", retreats to his "Fortress of Solitude" in the Arctic etc etc. Doc was physically and mentally trained from birth by his father and a team of scientists to become the perfect human specimen with a genius level intellect. His heightened senses are beyond comprehension. He can even identify a women's perfume from half a mile away. He is literally the master of everything. But here's the #1 reason I'm excited to become Doc Savage.. HE'S A F*CKING HILARIOUS WEIRDO! Confidently, yet innocently he has zero social graces whatsoever due to his upbringing so every interaction he has with someone is direct, odd, often uncomfortable and amazingly hilarious. After speaking for hours w/ Shane Black I can see why the creator of Superman took only the best parts of Doc Savage and leaving the "weirdo" part behind. But to us, it's that "weirdo" part that makes Clark "Doc" Savage dope! Can't wait to sink my teeth into this one of a kind character. #ItsOfficial #WorldsFirstSuperhero #GeniusIntellect #PhysicalSpecimen #FnLoveableWeirdo #ManOfBronze #DocSavage

A photo posted by therock (@therock) on May 30, 2016 at 5:53am PDT

Johnson also announced that he will also produce the film through his Seven Bucks Productions banner with along with Hiram Garcia.

Watch a trailer for the 1975 movie here

They will join Neal H Moritz, who was previously attached to produce with Ori Marmur (Battle: Los Angeles) and Michael Uslan.

Read: Dwayne Johnson shares a ‘twisted’ first image from Fast & Furious 8

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