Zachary Levi used to be Shazam, but the future of Billy Batson is unknown with Warner Bros.’ DC movie shakeup. That’s caused a lot of confusion for the actor, and his most recent reaction seems to be to lash out Sean Gunn, the brother of new DC movie overlord James Gunn.
The actor who played the grown up, “Shazamed” version of the character doesn’t seem to know what is happening with the future of his films, and while he’s proud of the movies (and rightfully so, they do rule), he also doesn’t know if he’ll be part of the DC Universe going forward.
Levi is promoting his film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and was asked about the future of the Shazam franchise. “I would love to be able to do more iterations of it,” Levi said in an interview with ComicBook.com. “I would love to collaborate with Nathan Fillion’s Green Lantern.”
When journalist Chris Killian went on to ask if Levi was interested in being recast as another character in the DCU, like some of the other actors who had played a part in the original run of the franchise, Levi asked for clarification on the recasting of Sean Gunn. Gunn played Weasel in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, as well as Calendar Man. Sean Gunn has become something of a staple in his brother’s work through the years, but he is also just a man who is incredibly talented and has been working consistently since the ’90s.
Recently, Sean Gunn has been cast as Maxwell Lord in the upcoming Superman: Legacy from James Gunn in the DCU, giving him a new role in the franchise as it evolves, and ComicBook.com pointed this out to Levi, as well as that there have been rumors about Jason Momoa—currently Aquaman—also landing another role in the new DCU, but Levi said the following about Sean Gunn: “Listen, when you’re the brother of the guy who runs DC, I guess you get to play who you want.”
Levi’s first role was in the 2002 movie Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie for FX. At that time, Sean Gunn was already playing Kirk in Gilmore Girls. One of the first movies that Sean Gunn was in was in Tromeo and Juliet, as Sammy Capulet, in 1996—sure, a movie that James Gunn wrote, but the two came up working together.
So either, hopefully, Levi is just joking about Gunn getting cast because his brother is in charge, or he’s at least a little bitter about not being part of that recasting conversation. To me, the knock on Sean Gunn just felt unnecessary. Joke or not, it didn’t need to be said, especially when, as Levi does point out, the other roles that Gunn took on in the DC universe were cameo roles and smaller ones in The Suicide Squad movie! Why wouldn’t he still be able to take on more roles in the franchise?
Maybe I am just too connected to Gunn’s performance as Kirk in Gilmore Girls, but I will defend him. Levi’s comment about him does just feel a bit mean, even if it also does feel like a joke, too.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
