Dwayne Johnson’s tenure in the DCU was filled with a lot of setbacks and controversies. It was also a very short-lived one where his intentions and desire for a greater DC world and his vision for Black Adam‘s future did not come to fruition. His film only managed to gross $393 million which is pretty disappointing considering the enormous hype and promotion Johnson did for for the film. He left the role and Warner Bros on a rather sour note, and the promises that were set up in the film ended up being useless. It was rather embarrassing for a star like Johnson to deliver an underwhelming project that was promoted with so much hype and energy.
In addition, with the recent disappointment of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, there were reports that Johnson had refused to put a cameo appearance of Zachery Levi’s Shazam in Black Adam and he did not want any association with Black Adam and Shazam. This led to claims that Levi blamed Johnson for the failure of his film. Now, Levi has addressed these claims and how misinterpretation came in the way of his intentions.
Also read: Robert Downey Jr’s Oppenheimer Beats Dwayne Johnson’s $801M Movie for Insane Box Office Record
Zachary Levi Refutes Claims of Blaming Dwayne Johnson For His Film’s Failure
Zachery Levi recently addressed the speculations and claims that he blamed Dwayne Johnson for the failure of his film Shazam! Fury of the Gods. According to The Wrap, Johnson had refused to include a cameo featuring Shazam in Black Adam which would have led to his integration into the Justice Society of America. He reposted the article on his Instagram story with the caption “The truth will set you free”. This led to many accusing him of blaming Johnson for the failure of his film.
Recently he addressed these allegations against him saying, (via Independent)
“I may or may not have, you know, reposted something in my Stories about a story that I had nothing to do with that The Wrap had reported on. And then I got flack about it because people were saying ‘Oh, What are you doing? You’re trying to blame this guy because your movie’s not doing well,’. Listen, I haven’t blamed anybody. There’s not one single person that I have blamed for anything about the way that our movie has performed.
The reason I decided to share that was not because I wanna blame anybody for anything. It’s because I do not want to be blamed for things that are not on me. And as a leader, and I believe, a protector of my family, my Shazam-ly and everyone who worked so hard on these movies, we have been doing everything we can to fight for you, the fans.”
Johnson has not responded to these allegations. Although Levi has not directly blamed him for his film’s failure, the reports made by many outlets of Johnson trying to align DC according to his vision seem to have some credibility, starting from his own solo flick Black Adam. The truth will never be known and since then both parties have moved on from their DC failures and focused on other projects.
What are Zachery Levi and Dwayne Johnson Working on Now?
Zachery Levi recently starred in Netflix’s Spy Kids: Armageddon which received mixed reviews. He will star in the upcoming fantasy film Harold and the Purple Crayon. It is based on Crockett Johnson’s 1955 children’s book of the same name. It will also star Lil Rel Howery, Zooey Deschanel, Ravi Patel, Camille Guaty, Tanya Reynolds, and Pete Gardner. He will also star in the film The Unbreakable Boy alongside Jacob Laval and Meghann Fahy.
Dwayne Johnson made a comeback to the Fast and Furious franchise in the post-credits scene of Fast X. He also announced a solo Luke Hobbs movie which will serve as a bridge between the events of Fast X and the next Fast and Furious Film which is supposedly the final film of the franchise. He also has Red One, opposite Chris Evans, which is being developed as a potential franchise material.
Sources: The Wrap, Independent
