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Zachary Levi casts doubt on playing Shazam for James Gunn’s DCU after Fury of the Gods box office failure: ‘I don’t know..’

Zachary Levi casts doubt on playing Shazam for James Gunn’s DCU after Fury of the Gods box office failure: ‘I don’t know..’

It was evident early on that Zachary Levi‘s return as Shazam would largely hinge on Fury of the Gods’ success at the box office. While DC Film fans were under the impression that Shazam would be safe from the DCEU reset due to DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran’s involvement in the franchise as a producer – the titular star is not sure if he has a future playing the mystical superhero in James Gunn’s Gods and Monsters.

With an abysmal total box office run of $133 million, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is one of the weakest performing DC film by far, though far being the only title after The Flash’s disastrous earnings. Still, the post-credits scene hinting at the possibility of Billy Batson joining the Justice Society indicated Levi’s iteration may have a future.

Speaking on The FilmUp Podcast, Zachary addressed if he will return to the DCU. “I don’t know what the future holds, because Fury of the Gods was not well received,” Levi said. “I have no idea where we go from here.”

The DCEU actor also stood by Shazam: Fury of the Gods arguing the film will be revisited with a different perspective, unlike the criticism it received during its premiere. “It’ll be one of those things that people will go back and watch, on home streaming or on a plane or whatever, and they’ll be like “Well, wait a minute!”

Shazam! Fury of the Gods was targeted by not just critics and fans but also stars working in Hollywood like Black Bolt actor Anson Mount. Even Bruce Campbell took a dig at the sequel while promoting his film, Evil Dead Rise which was ironically a Warner Bros. distributed title. In addition, Levi was also caught up in a wave of online toxicity trying to promote the movie while it suffered from a weak Rotten Tomatoes score.

Gunn’s DCU is currently focused on establishing a new range of superheroes that haven’t had their live-action debut in the previous iterations. Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl and Mister Terrific are the three superheroes cast for Superman: Legacy so even if Levi has a future in the new universe – we may not learn of it for a long time and any further delay of his return only assures a recast since the young Billy Batson portrayed by the 20-year-old is already at the risk growing out of the role.

Neither Gunn nor Safran has announced which specific characters are safe from the reset though Blue Beetle appears to be the first superhero to make his mark in DCU chapter 1. Similar to Levi’s Shazam, Gal Gadot‘s Wonder Woman is also on the same boat of limbo as Jason Momoa‘s Aquaman at the risk of also being replaced and the actor possibly playing Lobo in Gods and Monsters.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is available to stream on Max.

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