Zachary Levi made his DCEU debut in Shazam! this week and it’s fair to say that the film has gone over pretty well so far both with critics and at the box office, but the actor isn’t exactly new to superhero cinema. You may have forgotten, but Levi actually had a two-pic run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a member of the Warriors Three in the Thor trilogy, and though his character Fandral never really got his standout moment in the saga before being killed off, the former Chuck star doesn’t seem to mind.
While Levi saw potential in the role, and was honored to be part of the MCU, he doesn’t hold any ill will towards Marvel for killing him off. Speaking on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, he said the following:
“I was very honored to be part of that Thor franchise and I played Fandral the Dashing, which was very fun,” the 38-year-old actor expressed. “We had a bit to do in those movies but then we were all kind of ceremoniously slaughtered by Cate Blanchett in Thor: Ragnarok. I didn’t even have a line in that movie. That’s how fast I died – but if you’re going to die, die at the hands of Cate Blanchett.”
Of course, the bright side of Levi being killed off is that Fandral’s death freed him up to hop on over to the DCEU, where he managed to land a much meatier role. In fact, if you ask the actor, he wouldn’t change a single thing about how his time in the MCU played out.
“That was really awesome, although it was kind of a bummer when I died in that franchise because I thought maybe that was my token,” Zachary continued. “I played it, I got a great spin on the wheel, I made it on the board – but I didn’t have that much to do. The truth is I wouldn’t change it at all. If I hadn’t died there, I would not have been able to be reborn in the DC Universe and be given this incredible opportunity to bring this incredible character to life. A character that has been around for 80 years and that I think is genuinely unique in that it’s a boy – it’s the kid in all of us.”
So, all things considered, it sounds like getting the boot from the Marvel Cinematic Universe worked out pretty well for Zachary Levi in the end, and though his future in the DCEU after Shazam! is still unclear, it’s looking almost certain at this point that the actor will get to reprise his role again down the road – be it in a proper sequel or perhaps even in another hero’s movie.