Zachary Levi Calls Out Dwayne Johnson's Failed DC Power Grab

I am very excited about the idea or the prospect of being able to have Shazam and Black Adam find each other in the film world. I think that would be tremendously fun. Apparently Dwayne Johnson didn't feel the same way. So while Zachary Levi joked on The Tonight Show last week that he didn't see him and Dwayne as physical equals. I was offered an audition for the role of Shazam, but I knew enough about the character of Shazam Captain Marvel that he had like an evil twin named Black Adam. After Shazam Fury of the Gods opening, Zachary is revealing that Dwayne shut down the idea of sharing the screen with Black Adam's cinematic opposite. At 6am today, Tuesday morning, The Wrap published an article titled, How Dwayne Johnson Kneecapped Black Adam and Shazam 2 While Trying to Take Over DC. 10 hours later, Zachary shared someone summarizing the details of that article on their Instagram story and Zachary added, The truth shall set you free. With the upside down smiley face and hands up praise, all but confirming the details of The Wrap's article. So I'm going to break this down for you. The hierarchy of power in the DC universe is about to change. As he promoted his own superhero movie, Black Adam, before it was released in October 2022, Dwayne teased a power shift within the DCU. When I have said to fans, the hierarchy of power in the DC universe is about to change, I enjoyed saying that. It kind of started some rumblings. Dwayne attempted to use his box office clout to take control of the DC narrative. So he nixed the idea of having Zachary appear as Shazam in the post-credits scene of Black Adam and he went a different route for the superhero cameo. It's been a while since anyone's made the world this nervous. Sure, Dwayne called his friend Henry Cavill to put on the Man of Steel suit again. But more importantly, Dwayne was answering the deafening call from fans to have Henry return. Not only listening to the fans, but you got a guy who embodies Superman. Black Adam. I have been a little frustrated with over the years is when fans speak up and they're saying something so loudly and no one is addressing them. Friday, October 21st, Black Adam comes out and then on the Monday morning, October 24th, Henry confirms. I am back as Superman. He also assures DC fans that this is not a one-off cameo. Just a very small taste of things to come. But then, while Black Adam marked a personal best for Dwayne in its opening weekend with $67 million, the movie started to crumble at the box office. It ultimately made $392 million worldwide. While that's a lot of cash, for a movie whose budget is like $210 million, that's before marketing. Those kind of numbers are not exactly what you make the foundation for a cinematic universe. Now, before the final box office numbers for Black Adam were even in, 11 days after its release, which means they were already hired at that point. DC announces that James Gunn and Peter Safran are the new CEOs of DC Studios and they are in charge of focusing the comic book's cinematic universe. DC has been disconnected in film and television for a long time. Going against fan sentiment, DC Studios announces that Henry will not be back as Superman, Wonder Woman 3 is cancelled, and Dwayne ultimately failed in his power grab and he's basically gone as Black Adam. DC Studios decided to go against Dwayne's plan and ultimately pay him more money and go in a different direction. James Gunn's is a new hire whose salary they had to justify. But they did take Dwayne's criticism of the studio into account. No leadership is stepping in and saying, okay, we hear you, here's our plans, here's where we're going, you may not like it, but I respect you enough and we respect you enough. Here's, we're gonna have dialogue. So in a rare and actually pretty much never seen move, at the end of January, a studio exec, James Gunn, does a YouTube video laying out the 8 to 10 year plan of DC Studios in an attempt to get the public on DC's side. Which includes keeping Zachary Levi as Shazam. Shazam has always been off kind of in his own part of the DCU, so he connects very well. Well, about two months later, Shazam, Fury of the Gods opened this past weekend and it's a huge disappointment at the box office, only making $30 million. With a budget over $100 million, that does not put DC Studios in a very good positioning for their next project, which is already troubled. That moves directly into The Flash. Starring Ezra Miller, who has been arrested over the past year for several things, including assault and disorderly conduct. Oh, geez, this is a mess. It's kind of funny that Zachary feels comfortable in calling out Dwayne now, when Dwayne is essentially out of the job. Because when the first Shazam was released, Zachary was pretty fearful of Dwayne. If we ever get the opportunity to bring it to Fisty Cups, that I will be so gentle. Particularly because I don't want to accidentally hit you and then die. I would really hate for that to happen. See, it's a little odd that Zachary is basically saying na-na-na-na-na to Dwayne now, when... Zachary's probably out of his superhero job too, given the performance of Shazam, Fury of the Gods. A lot has changed in the last few years. DC, I would throw in the towel at this point and go away for 10 years. I mean, sure, Black Adam disappointed the box office. But you're going to bet against one of the biggest box office stars, Dwayne Johnson. You're going to bet against the overwhelming, the deafening call to have Henry Cavill back as Superman. You're going to bet against that. And you decide you're going to make Zachary Levi as Shazam and Ezra Miller as The Flash the basis for your new cinematic direction. Our jobs, mine and Peter's, is to come in and make sure the DCU is connected in film, television, gaming, and animation. And the projects that do work within the DC universe, and not just work, but I mean set box office records and are nominated and win Oscars, you label them as sidebar. If something is outside of that, like Matt Reeves' Batman or Todd Phillips' Joker or Teen Titans Go, that it is clearly labeled as DC Elseworlds. Outside of the mainstream DCU continuity. And sure, even Marvel is dealing with underwhelming box office numbers right now when it comes to Ant-Man and the Wasp, Quantumania. But they developed a very clear, cohesive cinematic universe with a lot of characters that they can play with. Narratively, DC, you've been a mess for years now. And the elements that did work, Henry the Superman and Wonder Woman, you've got rid of. James Gunn, Godspeed, but you're in trouble. But yeah, does the DCU continue to look like the sinking ship that I think it is? Or do you think James Gunn is going to be able to bail them out with this plan that's not going very well so far?