Remember when Shazam! came out in Easter 2019 and, while it didn’t blow up the box office, it was one of the most harmless, least-antagonizing comic book films of the decade? Honestly, it’s hard to recall that time now, in the wake of its sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods inciting so much controversy and backlash online. To such an extent, in fact, that star Zachary Levi has, in a surprising move, taken to Instagram Live to spill some behind-the-scenes secrets in a bid to stem all the hate.
It’s a frankly unprecedented move from a DC star, although perhaps it’s an inevitable follow-up to DC chief James Gunn’s full transparency with the fans on Twitter. Unfortunately, Levi’s own honesty has the comic book film crowd more convinced than ever that we’ve seen the last of the Chuck star as Shazam. In a Reddit thread unpacking Levi’s revelations — like how Henry Cavill’s Superman cameo was “thwarted” and a Justice Society team-up in Fury of the Gods was forbidden — folks admitted to feeling like the actor may know his time at DC is wrapping up.
It’s been said before that a third Shazam would depend on the second one’s financial performance and, well, we all know how that’s going.
Of course, Levi being a close personal friend of both Gunn and Peter Safran is a bit of a plus.
But Gunn is ultimately beholden to Warner Bros. so his hands may be tied.
And if Levi’s Shazam is done, that probably means we won’t have any more Shazam movies period, as the character is — let’s face it — hardly at Batman’s level.
Set your clocks for 15 years’ time, Shazamily.
Maybe the whole Shazam shtick just doesn’t work in live-action?
On a more positive note, though, there’s nothing stopping Levi from turning up for a cameo somewhere.
Until we’re fully aware of the extent to which Gunn plans to reboot the DCU — e.g. Superman and Batman are getting recast but The Suicide Squad characters aren’t? — it’s hard to say for certain if Levi could be recast as Shazam. It seems that, unlike his on-screen alter ego, there’s no magic word that will instantly solve this situation.