Zachary Levi is sharing his thoughts on Shazam! Fury of the Gods criticism months after the DC superhero sequel flopped at the box office.
During a recent appearance on The FilmUp Podcast, the actor admitted that he is still somewhat confused about the negative reviews of the David F. Sandberg-directed film and honestly doesn’t know what’s next for the franchise.
“I don’t know what the future holds for it all because, unfortunately, the second movie was not as well received,” he said. “The audience score is still quite good, but the critics score was very oddly and perplexingly low, and people were insanely unkind.”
The critics rating for Shazam! Fury of the Gods currently stands at 49 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score sits at 86 percent. In March, the film also had one of the worst box office openings for a major Hollywood superhero film, with $30.5 million domestically.
Following the film’s release, Sandberg took to social media to respond to criticism. At the time, he noted that the DC installment was his “lowest critic score” on Rotten Tomatoes. He added, “I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well.”
Levi shared the same sentiment for the movie during the interview on the podcast, noting that he was very happy with how his character and the film turned out. He said, “I thought we made a, if not just as good, better version than the first movie.”
“I’ve been a part of things, and as much as I wish they were good, I know they’re OK. I know that they miss a lot,” the actor added. “And I’m not saying Shazam! Fury of the Gods is some perfect, you know, Orson Welles-like masterpiece, but it’s a good darn movie.”
Although Levi has previously said the film’s marketing was an issue and contributed to the movie tanking at the box office, the actor also said social media played a factor.
“I think even just the world, from the first movie to the second movie, the world has shifted so much,” he explained. “Social media has shifted so much. Hate, online hate and haters and trolls, and factions and all that has just gotten more galvanized in its toxicity. I think there are people who genuinely, unfortunately, want to destroy certain projects because they don’t like them, or they don’t like me, or they don’t like other people involved in them or whatever.”
As for what’s next, Levi added that he doesn’t have a lot of answers or any “idea where we go from here.”
“I just hope that or believe that, you know, history will show,” he said. “It will be one of those things that people will go back, people will watch Fury of the Gods on home streaming or on a plane or whatever, and it will be this movie that they heard so much shit about and then they will be like, ‘Well, wait a minute.’”
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is currently streaming on Max.
