'Shazam!' star Zachary Levi tells fans to give new DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran 'a break'
Zachary Levi urged restless fans to "be patient" as James Gunn and Peter Safran chart a new future for DC Comics superheroes, including the character he plays, Shazam.
In the last week, some fans were so vocal in their criticism of some of the pair's decisions, like not having Henry Cavill return as Superman, that Gunn responded to the "disrespectful outcry," saying, "No one loves to be harassed or called names."
Levi opened up on his response to the drama in an Instagram Live on Thursday evening, sharing, "It's hard for me to see all these random comments and, like, basically lies and things that people are throwing around online and not want to respond."
"The amount of conjecture and rumor mill and drama and nonsense that keeps getting spun around out there on Instagram and Twitter is laughable," he said during the livestream. "So I would just say be patient, and give them some space and some time to try and really make something special."
Levi said Gunn and Safran are "not just making decisions because they like someone or don't like someone."
"They're making decisions based on what is best for Warner Bros., DC, that entire studio and entity, and trying to make as many fans, as much of an audience, happy as they can," Levi continued.
"If you're out there and you really liked what happened before, you can do that, that's fine," he said about previous DC films. "But recognize there's a lot of people that didn't like those things, and we should always be trying to, I think, tap into as much audience as possible, making as many people happy as possible. That's what we're in entertainment for, and that's what I think Peter and James are trying to do."
He added, "So guys, just f------- give 'em a break. Take it easy. Take a breath. It's the holidays, for God's sake."
During the livestream he also spoke about his place in the universe and the upcoming sequel, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," coming out in March.
"I have no idea what is going on at the end of the day, but I don't need to," he said. "I show up and I do my job. I'm so grateful that I get to be Shazam ... be super Billy Batson, and I will show up and do that as long as I'm given the opportunity to. ... At this point right now, I'm still that character. I've not had any outgoing conversation with the bosses."
"We have a movie that's literally coming out in March, and it's even better than the first one," he added.
That said, if his red-suited hero doesn't end up a part of Gunn and Safran's plans, "them's the breaks, that's how it goes."
