It looks like things are heating up at the DC headquarters after Shazam 2 star Zachary Levi shared a post from The Wrap on Tuesday that seemingly calls out Dwayne Johnson. The report said that the Black Adam star blocked the Justice Society of America characters from making a cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
In the same Instagram story, Levi added a caption, “The truth shall set you free,” which stirred controversy among fans who have seen the post. Aside from The Rock keeping the JSA characters off the Shazam film, the news also mentioned that the former WWE star killed the possibility of Levi appearing in Black Adam.
Shazam Actor Zachary Levi Defends Himself Over Controversial Post After Getting Slammed Online
In an Instagram live video, Zachary Levi explained his side of the story and tried to clear his name, saying he got criticized for a post he only shared (via THR):
“I may or may not have, you know, reposted something in my Stories about a story that I had nothing to do with that [The Wrap] had reported on, and then I got flack about it because people were saying ‘Oh, What are you doing? You’re trying to blame this guy because your movie’s not doing well. Like you’re trying to blame us.”
Levi added that he is not blaming anybody for the mediocre outcome of Shazam 2, after the film’s slow opening and seemingly low performance at the box office:
“Listen, I haven’t blamed anybody. There’s not one single person that I have blamed for anything about the way that our movie has performed.”
Shazam 2 director David F. Sandberg revealed that JSA characters were supposed to make an appearance in the sequel, but the original post-credits scene “fell apart three days before we were going to roll cameras.”
The Shazam lead reiterated that he is not blaming anybody; in fact, he has his hunch on why the movie bombed at the box office and why the audience welcomed it with a cold embrace:
“The reason I decided to share that was not because I wanna blame anybody for anything. It’s because I do not want to be blamed for things that are not on me.”
He also defended his cast mates and claimed that all these efforts were for the satisfaction of the fans:
“And as a leader, and I believe, a protector of my family, my Shazam-ly, and everyone who worked so hard on these movies… we have been doing everything we can to fight for you, the fans.”
With all the flack Zachary Levi is getting on social media after the controversial post, the actor revealed that he just wanted to do good and live in the truth.
Shazam 2 Continues To Plummet At The Box Office
Shazam! Fury of the Gods opened to a depressing $30.5 million domestically in 4,071 theaters, marking one of the worst openings in Hollywood for a superhero movie. The international box office is also not helping the film justify its budget costing at least $110 million, even failing to attract the attention of viewers from China, the biggest market for movies.
Despite the rigorous marketing and Zachary Levi’s hopefulness for a third installment, it seems like a pipe dream now after it received so many mixed criticisms and a humdrum 51% score on Rotten Tomatoes. CinemaScore also skimped on its evaluation, giving the sequel a B+ as compared to the first movie which earned an excellent score.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now showing in theaters worldwide.
Source: THR
