Zachary Levi: Give James Gunn time to “make something special” of DC
Zachary Levi, who plays Shazam in the DCEU, took to Instagram to defend the new heads of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran. The new studio heads have come under fire by fans for their recent creative decisions.
“You have no idea the reasonings behind any of the decisions that are going on,” Levi said. “The amount of conjecture and rumor mill and drama and nonsense that keeps getting spun around out there on Instagram and Twitter is laughable. It is unbelievably laughable.”
"So I would just say be patient, and give them some space and some time to try and really make something special. And I think something that DC deserves to have, and something that [Zack] Snyder tried to do and it just didn’t ultimately materialize, guys."
Shazam! star encourages DC fans to give James Gunn a break
The latest controversy is that Henry Cavill will not be returning to play Superman despite his cameo at the end of Black Adam and the subsequent announcement of his comeback. After Gunn and Safran took over in November, Cavill was told he was not part of their new plans. Gunn tried to appease angry fans on Twitter, and Levi is in his corner.
“If you’re out there and really like what happened before, you can do that, that’s fine,” Levi said. “But realize that there’s a lot of people who didn’t like those things, and we should always be trying to tap into as much audience as possible, make as many people happy as possible. That’s what we’re in entertainment for, and that’s what I think Peter and James are trying to do. And it’s not an easy position, they got handed all these things that were already in a lot of conflict. So guys, just give ’em a break.”
In addition to Cavill not returning, Wonder Woman 3 was canceled and Gunn got into a public spat with Cyborg actor Ray Fisher. Gunn said that some formal plans for the DCEU will be announced in January. The movies still slated to come out are The Flash, Blue Beetle, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Batman 2, a Joker sequel and Shazam 2.
“Listen, I have no idea what ultimately is going to happen to me,” said Levi about plans for after the Shazam sequel. “I think I’m in a pretty good position, I think we made a great movie, I think it’s going to do well – reasonably well, I hope so. But again, regardless of that, if they decide at some point that this is the way we gotta go – them’s the breaks, that’s how it goes.”
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be released on March 17, 2023.
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