Star actor Zachary Levi is uncertain what the future holds for Shazam in the DCU. This comes after the lukewarm reception of Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
During a conversation with The FilmUp Podcast (via IGN), the star admitted that he had no idea where they’re going to go from there, it wasn’t a total net loss, but with a production budget of $125 million, that $133 million just isn’t impressive. Heck, it ended up on Max less than a month into its theatrical release, meaning DC likely projected the film was going to have a lackluster reception.
The original was a smash hit, especially for DC, as it’s been on a downward spiral of cinematic blunders compared to its fellow superhero studio rival, Marvel, which continued raking in loads of attention and funds. The movie was so successful, in fact, that the studio wanted to make a sequel, which Levi accepted as he liked making the original.
Now the silver lining is that the critics are the ones who are rougher on the DC hero, while fans seem to enjoy the movie.
“I don’t know what the future holds for it all because, unfortunately, the second movie was not as well received. The audience score is still quite good, but the critics’ score was very oddly and perplexingly low, and people were insanely unkind.”
That disparity isn’t just for show, either. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes have it at 49% while the audience sits at a vastly different 86%. Perhaps DC will favor the audience rather than the critics, but that’s yet to be seen.
The next DCU film is August 18’s Blue Beetle, a movie that has abysmal projections but also a modest budget and is based on a rather niche hero.
Gabriel enjoys all things entertainment from writing about video games as the Managing Editor for PSX Extreme to covering the latest film and TV news for his own publication — Early Reel. Follow him on X.