Shazam! 2’s Zachary Levi hits out at The Rock, Snyder fans over failure

The time for recriminations has come. Shazam! Fury of Gods’ unheroic performance at the box office. And like all things to do with the DC Universe during this awkward transition period to a new era under DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran, it’s getting pretty messy.

It Shazam sequel’s star Zachary Levi has fanned the flames on social media, endorsing a story that the series was undermined by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s power play to put his character Black Adam at the core of the DC Universe, and agreeing that embittered fans of the Zack Snyder DC films wanted his movie to fail.

Levi uploaded an Instagram story on Tuesday (captured to posterity by Home of DCU on TwitterThis was verified by Polygon. It cites a report published by The Wrap claiming that Johnson had rejected linking Black AdamTo Shazam! in post-credits scenes, despite the characters’ canonical link in the comics. “The truth shall set you free,” Levi commented, with an upside-down smiley face.

According to The Wrap’s two “high-level” sources, The Rock personally vetoed a post-credits scene for Black Adam that would have shown Levi’s Shazam being recruited to join that film’s Justice Society hero team, in favor of the now-infamous cameo by Henry Cavill’s Superman. Johnson was betting on fan appetite fueling Cavill’s return in a sequel to Man of Steel — which it almost did, until it very much didn’t — and perhaps figured that Superman would make a more prestigious opponent for his antihero than the goofy Shazam.

The Wrap further reports that David F. Sandberg, Safran’s director, attempted to recreate the exact same scene after credits. Shazam! Fury of GodsJohnson forbade the use 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, rather than any actual JSA heroes.

The Wrap piece, which, it’s important to note, arrives perfectly timed to a heated moment of the Hollywood blame game, makes much of Johnson weakening both franchises by refusing this link and insisting on his misguided bet on Cavill, and goes on to trash the actor’s arrogance at length. But it’s debatable how much influence a post-credits scene in Black Adam — which performed better than Shazam! 2, but still struggled to break even — could have had in saving the later film’s fortunes.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Levi risked the ire of DC’s most toxic fandom by agreeing with one fan’s analysis that Zack Snyder fans were “happy for the failure of your film,” as a sort of punishment for DC for failing to persevere with Snyder’s continuity and casting choices, established in Snyder’s Man of Steel, Batman v SupermanAnd Justice League. (Gunn will remake Superman in his forthcoming Superman: Legacy.) In a now-deleted tweet, as reported by Variety, Levi replied, “This is also true. True, although it’s sad. How much that actually affects the box office is anyone’s guess. But I think the biggest issue we’re having is marketing. This is a perfect family movie, and yet a lot of families aren’t aware of that. Which is just a shame.”

Levi could have some point on this last point. Warner Bros. has the unfortunate situation of having to release four DC movies this year, despite Gunn and Safran publicly discussing the possibility of rebooting the franchise. While this summer’s The Flash is being heavily boosted with prime “Big Game” TV spots, vocal support from Gunn in his promotion of the new DCU slate, and even an alleged nod of approval from Tom “savior of the movies” Cruise, Fury of Gods The support has been limited to trailer dumps. It’s not quite a BatgirlSituation, however, from an outsider’s perspective, it feels like a legacy writing-off.

Others members Fury of Gods’ cast and crew have been publicly defending the movie, although they have largely taken the much safer and more conventional route of blaming the critics for not getting it. “On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film,” Sandberg tweetedWith a smiley emoji. “I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. It’s okay.”

Meanwhile, star Rachel Zegler tweeted, “Hey our film is actually really good! […] Some people out there and just being… senselessly mean. And it’s unnecessary. […] It’s just cool to hate on fun nowadays.”

What is the point of all this DC drama? As directors and actors are cut loose or left wondering what their future might be under the new regime, and as a vocal fanbase continues to make its presence felt, DC clearly struggles to get everyone to toe the company line — to the extent there is one. The rollouts The Flash The controversial Ezra Miller stars in this video Blue BeetleAnd Aquaman 2 still to come this year, and with Gunn’s tone-setting Superman: LegacyAlthough it is unlikely that the changes will be implemented before 2025, it appears like there could still be chaos.

It is a happy ending for at least one individual. “One thing I’ve really been looking forward to is disconnecting from the superhero discourse online,” Sandberg said. “A lot of that stresses me out so much and it will be nice not having to think about that anymore.”