Shazam! Fury Of The Gods is out, and over the superhero movie’s opening weekend, interest has waned in the four years since the original, according to opening numbers.
Ever since it was announced that the DCU was going to be overhauled under the direction of James Gunn and Peter Safran, the years of DC-based movies have been under serious scrutiny. While the original Shazam! performed decently at the box office, exceeding its $100 budget and turning a profit, its sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods let out an audible whimper on its opening weekend at the same box office four years later. While there is no overt evidence that the “changing of the guard” had anything to do with the box office flop, Wonder Woman’s 1984 opening numbers were also critically low for a superhero movie.
The announcement of the new DCU may have something to do with the poor opening weekend, as fans still have no idea if the hero portrayed by Zachary Levi will continue to be a pillar of the new universe. James Gunn has said that the new DCU would be a “soft reboot”, leaving Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman to an uncertain fate, and since then it has been confirmed that Wonder Woman has been axed by director Patty Jenkins.
Another reason could be a report from The Wrap that Black Adam’s Dwayne Johnson “kneecapped” the series by refusing to allow characters from the same universe to appear in the film. Or the movie’s generally mixed reviews, as Metacritic currently has it at a 47% average based on 47 reviews.
CGM’s review of the sequel says, “The lore really kept me interested in this movie, and I hope this world continues to build more of its own world – as well as the rest of the DCEU or DCU,” echoing the “hope” that the character will remain in the DCU.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods had the third worst opening in the current DCU with just over $30 million, and the future of the current iteration of the hero is uncertain.
