Shazam! Fury of the Gods starring Zachary Levi hit theatres this Friday, but the film has failed to grab the fans’ attention. The film managed to collect only $3.4 million, lower than Birds of Prey‘s collection of $4 million on its Thursday preview, making it the lowest-earning film in DC Studios’ history. In addition to a poor opening, the film has met a lot of criticism and passionate DC fans have been hurling insults at the actor for his mediocre performance in the sequel.
However, Zachary Levi called out the passionate fanbase, addressing how he understands what the fans want. The actor appeared as a guest on a podcast where he addressed how he is constantly taking notes and feedback to improve his character.
Zachary Levi Talks About his Performance in Shazam! Fury of the Gods
While appearing as a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast hosted by Josh Horowitz, the Alias Grace actor carefully addressed the weight of being a superhero in the DCU. Levi explained that he was having a “tough” time because he can’t cut off from the experience. And while shooting the film, he was constantly criticizing himself. He continued that even though the scenes were perfect for some people, he was disappointed with certain character choices he made in certain scenes.
“Listen, man, yeah, I mean… it’s already been tough. Most actors can’t watch themselves on screen, right? It’s very difficult to divorce yourself from the experience you were having while shooting those scenes, what you were thinking, and what you were feeling… And I’m constantly just critiquing myself physically like, ‘Stand up straight, you buffoon!’ Like, ‘My gosh, your posture is horrible.’ Like all of the entire movie, I just can’t help it. And also looking at myself, and my performance choices, and being like, ‘Oh man, you’re such an idiot there.’”
Zachary Levi called his experience with Shazam 2 “very difficult” because there are some things that are “out of your hands.” And even though some fans loved it, there will be a group of fans who are “just negative to be negative.”
“It’s very very difficult. It’s very difficult, but, you know, listen, I did my best, I have to accept that, I know that I did my best, and all the other stuff is out of your hands. But yeah I mean even on Twitter today, scrolling through, there’s people that have released some advanced reviews, or just you know fans who have seen it, and there’s this incredibly positive stuff out there. And then, of course, there’s these other people, like the internet is full of, which is a very just negative to be negative people… “
The American Underdog actor called this negative group of fans Snyderverse fans because “I don’t agree with them on other comic book movies.”
“There’s a whole contingent of comic book fans that it’s really unfortunate that there’s this one particular group of people that think I… well, they don’t like me, because I don’t agree with them on other comic book movies. You know who I’m talking about.”
Zachary Levi pities this group because despite “being so vicious online, I can only assume that they are very powerless people.” This group feels powered when their comments hurt the emotions of other people which is just “sad.”
“And people, they really get off on it, because it’s like they feel very powerless… Again, so what I try to do is I just I try to empathize and go, ’Oh, these people that are being so vicious online, I can only assume that they are very powerless people, who need to feel the flex by being anonymously online, tearing other people down, and hoping for the reactions, and then they feel bolstered in that, and it’s just… it’s sad.”
The Shazam actor concluded by saying that despite being in so much negativity, he tries to “see through that filter” and does not let the negative comments get to him.
“But I know I can see through that filter, so I don’t allow it, or I try not to allow it to creep in, and make me start being negative with myself.”
The toxic fan base of DCU is no surprise because this group of fans always tends to criticize any major announcement or decision. Just like when these fans objected to James Gunn when he scrapped the Snyderverse for a fresh and better start.
Does DC Have Toxic Fans?
The franchise is infamous for having a toxic fanbase. Or at least a part of it is extremely toxic. Zachary Levi’s statement is no shocker because he is one of the many people who brought it up in the podcast. Earlier, David Ayer talked about the “hate, trolling, [and] toxicity” the fans bring and he has no patience or tolerance for such behavior.
The Snyderverse fans are getting louder ever since James Gunn announced the reboot of the franchise. And this specific group of fans is doing baseless campaigns and spreading rumors such as Netflix is close to buying the Snyderverse from DC Studios. Sadly, due to such childish behavior, the universe which the newly appointed Co-CEO has planned would be a failure because of poor reviews.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods can be watched in theatres near you.
Source: The Happy Sad Confused Podcast
