*Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson announced on Tuesday that he would be playing the titular hero in the Netflix film 'John Henry and the Statesman'

*The legend of John Henry tells the tale of a black steel-driver, and former slave, who raced against a steam-powered rock drilling machine in the 1800s

*Henry would beat the machine, only for his heart to give out from the stress

*Depictions of Henry show him as a young, dark-skinned black man

*Actors Danny Glover and Roger Aaron Brown have both played the strapping hero on-screen and Henry was even featured on a postage stamp in 1996

*Johnson is a biracial man - his father is black, while his mother is Samoan - and he has played a slue of racially ambiguous roles

*Many took issue with Johnson taking on the role even though Henry has always been described as having dark skin 

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is getting flack for casting himself as an African-American folklore legend in an upcoming Netflix film he is also producing. 

Johnson announced on Tuesday that he would be playing the titular hero in the Netflix film 'John Henry and the Statesman.'   

'When the man comes around. Honored to play a childhood hero of mine, JOHN HENRY & his disruptive band of fellow folklore legends from around the world,' the 46-year-old actor said on Twitter, along with a brief teaser trailer. '@Netflix are the perfect partners and platform to build.'

On Instagram, he added: 'My dad would sing 'Big John' to me every time he would put me to bed.'

The legend of John Henry tells the tale of a black steel-driver, and former slave, who raced against a steam-powered rock drilling machine supposedly in the 1800s.