Shazam! Fury of the Gods lead actor Zachary Levi fires back at diehard DC fans who he claims have targeted abuse at him for his take on comic book movies amid criticism of the film.
During an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, Levi spoke about Fury of the Gods, addressing the negative reviews for the Shazam! sequel by moviegoers. After hailing the viewers who liked the movie, Levi chastised the "negative to be negative" people who took him to task on social media, given his past takes on other comic book films. "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," he said.
Zachary Levi Claps Back at DC Fans
"You know who I'm talking about," Levi continued. "But instead of there being a conversation, they take up so many of my words, or things completely out of context, and then they go stir up all their other people that they know online, and they all just want to attack, and attack, and attack, and attack. And it's really sad, because this is just one example of so many examples of the amount of just venom, and toxicity, and bullying that goes on in these cyber dimensions."
Levi has clapped back at DCU fans before, defending DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn on multiple occasions from their criticism of his new video for the shared universe after making a raft of changes following his and Peter Safran's takeover last October. Alternatively, some of the vitriol Levy receives stems from his personal views ranging from his criticism of pharmaceutical company Pfizer to his perceived mocking of Britney Spears' conservatorship battle.
Shazam 2's Box Office Falls Short
Levi's comments come as Fury of the Gods struggles to match up to the box-office success of the original Shazam!, grossing just $30 million domestically on opening weekend as of March 19, and $65 million worldwide. Though many reviews have been encouraging for Fury of the Gods, including an 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the vitriolic takes have been loud from DCU enthusiasts, with Levi branding them "powerless" as he tries to understand where the hate really comes from.
The early box-office disappointment for Fury of the Gods was something director David F. Sandberg saw coming. Sandberg admitted on Reddit he knew the Shazam! sequel would underwhelm "long ago" when news about its premiere numbers made the rounds. Meanwhile, fellow Fury of the Gods actor Rachel Zegler has been equally vocal about the superhero film's lukewarm reviews, suggesting on Twitter that the bad reviews have been unfair and that "it's just cool to hate on fun nowadays."
Fury of the Gods also features Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Faithe Herman and Djimon Hounsou. Fan can watch the film in theaters now.
Source: Happy Sad Confused podcast via YouTube