Zachary Levi’s reactions to the box-office flop add to the DCU drama
Shazam allegations have begun! The unheroic performance of Fury of the Gods at the box office. And like everything to do with the DC Universe during this awkward transition to a new era under DC Studio bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran, it’s getting pretty messy.
Shazam sequel star Zachary Levi has fanned the flames on social media, confirming a story that the series was undermined by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s power play to place his character Black Adam at the center of the DC Universe and agrees fans are bitter the Zack Snyder DC movies wanted his movie to fail.
On Tuesday, Levi posted an Instagram story (captured for posterity by Home of DCU on Twitter, and verified by Polygon) and cited a report by The Wrap that Johnson had vetoed Black Adam’s linking to Shazam! in post-credits scenes, despite the characters’ canon connection in the comics. “The truth will set you free,” Levi commented with an upside down smiley face.
According to The Wrap’s two “senior” sources, The Rock personally vetoed a post-credits scene for Black Adam that would have shown Levi’s Shazam being recruited into the film’s Justice Society hero team, in favor of the now infamous cameo appearance of Henry Cavill’s Superman. Johnson was banking on fan appetites fueling Cavill’s return in a Man of Steel sequel – which it almost did until it wasn’t – and perhaps thought Superman would make a more respectable opponent for his antihero than the goofy one Shazam.
Also, The Wrap reports that when Safran and director David F. Sandberg attempted to capture the same post-credits scene for Shazam! Fury of the Gods ruled out Johnson using any of the Black Adam Justice Society actors. Safran and Sandberg had to use two federal agents – members of Amanda Waller’s team from Gunn’s Peacemaker series – to recruit Shazam instead of any actual JSA heroes.
The wrap piece, which, importantly, comes perfectly at a heated Hollywood blame game moment, makes a lot of Johnson weakening both franchises by dismissing that connection and insisting on his misguided bet on Cavill, and continues , that destroy actor arrogance at length. But it’s debatable how much influence a post-credits scene has in Black Adam – which performed better than Shazam! 2 but still struggled to break even – could have saved the fortunes of the later film.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Levi risked the wrath of DC’s most toxic fandom by agreeing a fan’s analysis that Zack Snyder fans were “happy your movie failed,” as a sort of punishment for DC for not sticking with Snyder’s continuity and casting decisions established in Snyder’s Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League. (Gunn will recast Superman in his upcoming Superman: Legacy.) In a now-deleted tweet, as reported by Variety, Levi replied, “That’s also true. Sad but true. How much this actually affects the box office is unclear. But I think the biggest problem we have is marketing. This is a perfect family film, and yet many families are unaware of it. Which is just a shame.”
At least on the latter point, Levi might be right. Warner Bros. is in the awkward position of releasing no fewer than four previously made DC movies this year, despite Gunn and Safran speaking publicly about rebooting the franchise. While The Flash is being given a big boost this summer with top-notch ‘Big Game’ TV spots, vocal support from Gunn in his promotion of the new DCU slate and even a reported nod of approval from Tom ‘Savior of the Movies’ Cruise, Fury of The gods have seen little of the same support, aside from typical trailer dumps. It’s not quite a Batgirl situation, but from the outside the release feels like a write-off of legacy.
Other members of the Fury of the Gods cast and crew have publicly defended the film, although for the most part they have taken the much safer and more conventional route of blaming the critics for not getting it. “On Rotten Tomatoes, I just got my lowest critics’ score and my highest audience’s score in the same film,” Sandberg tweeted, with a shrug emoji. “I wasn’t seriously expecting a repeat of the first film, but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well.”
In the meantime, star Rachel Zegler tweeted“Hey, our film is actually really good! […] A bunch of people out there and just… pointlessly mean. And it’s unnecessary. […] It’s just cool to hate fun these days.”
Why is all this DC drama so…dramatic? While directors and actors are being fired or wondering what their future might hold under the new regime, and while a vocal fan base continues to make itself felt, DC is clearly struggling to get everyone to stick to the company line — as far as there is one gives . With the rollouts of The Flash (starring the controversial Ezra Miller), Blue Beetle and Aquaman 2 still slated for this year, and with Gunn’s landmark Superman: Legacy not due out until 2025, it seems like the chaos may yet be stop for a while.
At least one person is happy to leave it all behind. “One thing I’ve really been looking forward to is breaking away from the superhero discourse online.” said Sandberg. “A lot of this is stressing me out so much and it will be nice not to have to think about it anymore.”
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