The DC Universe has had a wild life in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. The franchise has been making headlines thanks to its new leadership, which has been making sweeping changes in order to craft an interconnected cinematic universe. There's a ton of questions about the future of the property, and the fate of various heroes including Zachary Levi's Shazam. And the 42 year-old actor recently clarified his post about The Rock, and reacted to Fury of the Gods’ performance at the box office.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods arrived in theaters last weekend, and has had a disappointing run at the box office. There's been a ton of discourse about the blockbuster, including rumors of a Black Adam tie-in that was reportedly shut down by Dwayne Johnson. After posting on his Instagram story and seemingly confirming the report in the process, Levi has once again taken to Instagram Live to clarify his thoughts about the DC sequel. In a long video posted on his main grid, the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star said:
I may or may not have, you know, reposted something in my stories about a story that I had nothing to do with, that had reported, that The Wire had reported on. And then I got flack about it, because people were saying, 'What are you doing? You're trying to blame this guy because you're not doing well. You're trying to blame...' Listen, I haven't blamed anybody. There's not one single person that I have blamed for anything about the way that our movie has performed.
Well, there you have it. While Zachary Levi isn't denying posting his IG story, he wants to make it clear that he's not blaming the performance of Shazam! Fury of the Gods' at the box office on The Rock. After all, the wrestler turned actor wasn't actually involved in the DC blockbuster.
For this unfamiliar, the rumor about Shazam 2 claimed that the post-credits scene would have had Zachary Levi's title character being recruited by the Justice Society of America, seemingly setting up the eventual Black Adam/Shazam crossover. The rumor claims that The Rock shut this down, and seemingly wasn't a fan of Levi's burgeoning franchise.
Later in his IG Live, Levi encouraged DC fans not to believe any fake stories circulating around online. He further spoke about the "blame" of Shazam 2's box office performance, sharing:
But I swear to you, I'm not blaming any of you. I'm really not. I have my thoughts about what's going on, but here's the thing. The reason I decided to share that was not because I want to blame anybody for anything. It's because I do not want to be blamed for things that are not on me. And I know, as a leader and I believe a protector of my family, my family and everyone who worked so hard on these movies, and everybody who worked so hard at New Line and Warner Brothers and DC. The hard working wonderful people, and these organizations, and everyone within this Shazam production. For years, we have been doing everything we can to fight for you, the fans
Zachary Levi did confirm that the original plan for Shazam 2's mid-credits scene was to feature Aldis Hodge's Hawkman and Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone from Black Adam. But just like Henry Cavill's planned cameo in the first movie, things didn't exactly play out as expected. And it seems like that was because Dwayne Johnson didn't want to share characters from his movie with the folks over at Shazam.
A number of times throughout his post, Zachary Levi encouraged people to get out there and see Shazam! Fury of the Gods, while also advocating for the quality of the movie. While reviews have been mixed, Levi is hoping that the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes will raise, and encourage more people to see the blockbuster. In his words,
I would love [for] our audience score to get so dang high, that people are like 'This doesn't make any sense!' Because it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense that we got shut down the way that we got shut down. Again, all you haters out there [saying] 'your movie sucks.' It doesn't. It legitimately doesn't. In fact, if any of you actually saw the movie — which I'm sure that you haven't — you will recognize that it really doesn't suck. It's a really entertaining, really fun movie.
You can see Zachary Levi's full Instagram post below. The full clip also features him thanking fans for their kind words, and hammering down what a fun, family-friendly movie Shazam! Fury of the Gods ultimately is. Check it out:
Given the poor box office performance of Shazam 2, DC fans are left wondering if Zachary Levi and the rest of the Shazamily will be included in the new vision for the shared universe. The inclusion of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman inspired even more questions, especially since Patty Jenkins' threequel was scrapped.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is in theaters now. Be sure to check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
