Zachary Levi shouldn’t hold his breath about a return to the DC Universe! DC Studios co-head James Gunn has confirmed that Shazam! Fury of the Gods isn’t canon to the new reboot.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods sat at an odd bisection of the DC Universe. It came out during a time when it was already announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran would reboot the franchise, yet at the same time tried to set up its own plans for future crossovers. This led to a bafflingly confusing scene where Zachary Levi’s Mightiest Mortal ended up being recruited by Peacemaker‘s John Economos and Emilia Harcourt for Black Adam‘s Justice Society of America.
At the time, some thought that this was a hint at James Gunn’s plans for the new DC Universe, with Zachary Levi potentially playing a big role in that roadmap. However, it seems that not even Gunn himself knew what the prior regime was doing with that scene, confirming that the Shazam! sequel is not canon to his current plans for the upcoming reboot.
“You don’t need to be confused,” Gunn wrote in a recent Instagram comment. “It’s not canon. I don’t know now or then what Harcourt or Economos have to do with the Justice Society.”
The Truth Behind Shazam 2’s Post-Credits Scene
This response from James Gunn may leave some fans scratching their heads. If James Gunn didn’t have plans for Zachary Levi, why did the characters he popularized appear in the Shazam sequel with some future plans seemingly in the works? As with all things in the DC Universe prior to its upcoming reboot, the answer seems to be a mix of miscommunication, poor scheduling, and potentially not having a plan at all.
James Gunn actually confirmed he had no involvement in the Shazam 2 post-credits scene late last year. Around the same time, director David F. Sandberg revealed that John Economos and Emilia Harcourt were never meant to recruit Zachary Levi into the Justice Society, but his original plans fell apart. This led to him calling in a favor with current DC Universe co-chair Peter Safran to pull something together at the last minute, potentially meaning there was never a plan for why these two characters would appear at all.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now streaming on Max. Stay tuned for all the latest news regarding the future of the DC Universe and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
