Zachary Levi Unsure Of His Return To ‘Shazam!’

“I have no idea where we’ll go from here,” the actor said about the uncertainty of his return to the superhero role, and addresses negative reviews for the sequel.

Zachary Levi attends the World Premiere of 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' in Westwood, CA. Photo: Eric Charbonneau.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ and his future with the franchise. In an interview with The FilmUp Podcast, the actor acknowledges the criticism from movie critics, “I don’t know what the future holds for it all because, unfortunately, the second movie was not well received,” Levi says of the low critics’ score, “The audience score is still quite good, but the critics’ score was very oddly and perplexingly low, and people were insanely unkind.”

Currently, ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ stands at 49% from critics on Rotten Tomoates and an audience score of 86%. For comparison, the 2019 ‘Shazam!’ is certified Fresh on the aggregator site, with a 90% critics’ score and 82% audience score. The film became available on digital less than a month after its theatrical release, grossing $133 million worldwide. The production budget for ‘ Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ was $125 million.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

"Oh. My. Gods."

PG-132 hr 10 min Mar 17th, 2023

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The actor eludes to reasons why the sequel did not perform as well as its predecessor:

“I think even just the world, from the first movie to the second movie, the world has shifted so much. Social media has shifted so much. Hate, online hate and haters and trolls, and factions and all that has just gotten more galvanized in its toxicity. I think there are people who genuinely, unfortunately, want to destroy certain projects because they don’t like them, or they don’t like me, or they don’t like other people involved in them or whatever.”

Levi questions whether or not he’ll be able to return as Shazam in the new DCU but remains hopeful, “I have no idea where we go from here. I just hope that or believe that history will show... it will be one of those things that people will go back, people will watch 'Fury of the Gods' on home streaming or on a plane or whatever, and it will be this movie that they heard so much s**t about and then they will be like, 'Well, wait a minute.' "

Uncertain Future For Shazam

Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D.J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,'a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

(L to R) Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D.J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,'a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.

The first movie was released in 2019, prior to Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.”

Zachary Levi is not the only actor with an uncertain future in the DCU. Fellow actors who held titular characters such as The Authority.’

Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene, Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D. J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

(L to R) Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene, Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D. J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.