Shazam! Fury of the Godshas released to underwhelming numbers at the box office, falling short of expectations and franchise precedent. The film, which rescheduled its release to avoid competition, suffered from several external factors.
Shazam! Fury of the Godsis the sequel to 2019’sShazam!,which served as an origin story for DC Comics' Billy Batson, a young orphan who is chosen by the last of a group of ancient wizards to be his champion, transforming into the eponymous character when he utters the magic words. It was a successful first outing, with many noting thatShazam!had more depth than other DCEU filmsavailable at the time. Fans pined for a sequel and possible crossovers between Shazam’s cast and other DCEU heroes like Superman and Black Adam. A sequel was announced shortly after and expected to do as well or better than its predecessor.
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Despite the film’s announcement being well received and somehow surviving cancelation during the turbulence in the DCEU following the announcement thatJames Gunn will run the DC film divisionalongside Peter Safran,Shazam! Fury of the Godshas underperformed significantly at the box office following its premiere on March 17th. In the leadup to its release, the film was expected to open to about $35 million, considered a surprisingly low figure at the time, as the first film exceeded that in projections and reality. However, the reality is even more disappointing, asShazam 2barely passed the $30 million mark instead.
While the performance is a shame, the warning signs regarding the low projections were plain to see and outside of the cast and crew’s control. In addition to the inevitable march of superhero fatigue that has plagued the movies since the MCU and DCEU kicked into high gear, DC suffered from bad press and uncertainty around the franchise’s projects. This attitude was so widespread thatShazam! Fury of the Godsdirector David F. Sandberghad to offer a promising albeit uncertain update on social media regarding the character’s future in the DCU.
Some more cynical observers might conclude that Gunn and Safran, in their bid to scrub the DCU clean and push their vision forward, caused the poor showing forShazam! Fury of the Godsby not making or sharing any plans to work it into the overarching plan for the new DCEU. If there had been mention of plans for the character whenGunn announced new Superman, Batman, and Supergirl projects for the DCU chapter 1 slate, fans might have been incentivized to support the film. This could have coaxed box office numbers over the projections line.
While the movie’s performance is unfortunate, there is little doubt that the DCU’s prospects will remain unaffected. Far from being a stain on the new DCU,Shazam!seems destined tobe an unwilling death knell for Zack Snyder’s vision, with Gunn confirmingThe Flashwill be a soft reboot of the franchisein the style of its source material. Fans will have to wait and see whether the Zachary Levy version of the Shazam character will have a place in the new DCU or if he’s fated to go the way of Henry Cavill.
Shazam! Fury of the Godsis now available in theaters.
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