US actor Zachary Levi of ‘Shazam!’ fame recently weighed in on the drama surrounding DC Studios’ future projects and its new co-chiefs, James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Last week, Gunn addressed the “uproarious and unkind” backlash in a Twitter thread which was caused after the revelation that Gunn is writing a new Superman film, but Henry Cavill will not return as the iconic hero.
According to Variety, an American media company, the decision to recast Superman has also cast doubt on several other DC characters, such as Black Adam, as Dwayne Johnson announced on Tuesday that the anti-hero will not be in Gunn and Safran’s “first chapter of storytelling.”
However, on Thursday night, Levi came to Gunn and Safran’s defence during an Instagram Live. He encouraged DC fans to give the new CEOs “time to make something special.”
“You have no idea the reasonings behind any of the decisions that are going on. The amount of conjecture and rumour mill and drama and nonsense that keeps getting spun around out there on Instagram and Twitter is laughable. It is unbelievably laughable,” Levi said.
He continued, “So I would just say be patient, and give them some space and some time to try and really make something special. And I think something that DC deserves to have and something that [Zack] Snyder tried to do and it just didn’t ultimately materialise, guys.”
Levi added that, in crafting their vision for the DC universe, 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 will next star in ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’, which is set for release on March 17, 2023.
The first ‘Shazam!’ released in 2019 grossed $140.3 million domestic, $366 million at the global box office.
