Shazam! The Fury of The Gods is nearing its premiere date. All eyes are on the movie to see how it compares to the film about the titular character’s arch nemesis. In fact, several DC fans are rooting for Shazam 2 to perform better than Black Adam at the box office after it was revealed that Dwayne Johnson hated Zachary Levi’s superhero. But Levi doesn’t harbor any ill will towards The Rock as the actor is open to a fight between the two behemoths as well as Superman.
Zachary Levi Open To Superman, Black Adam, And Shazam Fight
During the promotional press for Black Adam, it was rumored that Dwayne Johnson’s anti-hero was going to appear in Shazam 2. However, post the formation of DC Studios with James Gunn and Peter Safran in charge, and the dismal box office performance of the movie leading to The Rock getting ousted from the future DC plans, that seems unlikely. But during an interview with the YouTube channel Jake’s Takes, the host asked Zachary Levi about those rumors and if The Rock was really going to appear in the film. The actor said that he doesn’t have a clue about that. As per Levi:
“That’s all so far above my pay grade. I have no idea. I know that in the comics, and even in some animation, there’s been some really cool, epic battles between Shazam and Black Adam… Shazam, Superman and Black Adam. I know a lot of fans wanted that. I know I was totally open to that, but that’s all I know.”
Fans will be glad to know that Levi is in their corner about wanting a three-way fight between Shazam, Black Adam, and Superman. Also, in a clip shared by Twitter user AjepArts, even Johnson admitted that he would have liked to see the two characters crossover after their movies built them up. According to The Rock:
“It was just a mosh of ‘just put them both together because they’re both connected.’ So that’s when I said ‘you can’t do it like this, we have to respect Shazam and his origin story, that has to be its own movie. Respect Black Adam, this has to be its own movie. Build them up, and then you can do this.'”
Check out the video here:
However, the possibility of such a fight happening is slim and it isn’t just due to Gunn and Safran rebooting the DC universe,
The Shazam, Black Adam, And Superman Fight Will Never Happen
James Gunn is rebooting the DC universe and he has also let go of Henry Cavill and The Rock from their respective roles. As for Levi, the actor had previously said during an Instagram video that he has no idea if he will stay in Gunn’s new DCU. In such a tumultuous situation, a team-up between these versions of the three characters seems unlikely. However, once upon a time, we could have seen these three characters share screen space at least, if not engage in an all-out fight. But Dwayne Johnson’s disdain for Shazam prevented that from happening.
The Wrap reported that Johnson was never interested in teaming up with Levi’s character. Their insider claimed that Johnson harbors a “thinly veiled disdain” for the hero. This is probably the reason why he even refused to cameo in the first Shazam film. Also, when Black Adam was released in theaters, most DC fans were surprised that there were zero mentions of Levi’s hero. These incidences lend credence to the allegations of Johnson not liking the goofy and cheesy character of Shazam.
Also, he fought long and hard with WB executives to bring back Cavill but didn’t care to bring in Levi’s character even though getting him would probably have been much easier. Also, cameoing in each other’s films would have made it easier to set up a future film with the two. At the very least, if The Rock had brought in Shazam to cameo in his DC film, we could have seen him share the screen with Superman and Black Adam. However, this is a lot of what-ifs. Right now, Gunn is gearing up to start his DCU with a new Superman. Whether Johnson and Levi have a spot in that universe remains to be seen.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods releases on 17 March 2023.
Source: Jake’s Takes and AjepArts
