Zachary Levi Abandons Hollywood, Calls Movies “Garbage”

Shazam star Zachary Levi is calling out Hollywood en masse and doing it in the harshest possible terms.

Zachary Levin in Shazam: Fury of the Gods — Credit: Warner Bros

Not that long ago, Zachary Levi was considered one of the up-and-coming bright lights of Zack Snyder’s DC Extended Universe. He starred in David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! (2019), one of the franchise’s most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, and seemed ready to take a leading role in the further adventures of the Justice League and/or Society.

However, a lot has changed since 2019. The Zack Snyder DCEU collapsed under the weight of its own ambition and the colossal failures of Dwayne Johnson‘s Black Adam (2022) and the Ezra Miller-led The Flash (2023), while Zachary’s Levi’s own Shazam! Fury of the Gods bombed hard at the box office and was savaged by critics.

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam in Black Adam (2022). Credit: Warner Bros./ D.C — Credit: Warner Bros.

Since then, Zachary Levi’s enthusiasm for big Hollywood blockbusters seems to have understandably waned, along with his patience for people who are “insanely unkind” to his work.

At the recent Fan Expo Chicago, Zachary Levi went on an extended rant (per Entertainment Weekly) against his perception of the quality of films and television coming out of the industry currently, saying, “I personally feel like the amount of content that comes out of Hollywood that is garbage — they don’t care enough to actually make it great for you guys. They don’t.”

Zachary Levi as Shazam! — Credit: DC Studios/Warner Bros.

It would be difficult to argue that Hollywood’s quality control has not come into question in recent years, with both Marvel Studios and DC Studios releasing some of their lowest-grossing, most critically-derided films to date. As for as star Zachary Levi is concerned, the best way to combat that is without your wallet.

The Shazam star continued, “How many times do you watch a trailer and go, ‘Oh my God, this looks so cool!’ Then you go to the movie, and it’s like, ‘This was what I get? They know that once you’ve already bought the ticket and you’re in the seat, they’ve got your money. And the only way for us to change any of it is to not go to the garbage. We have to actively not choose the garbage. It’ll help. It’ll help a lot.”

Dwayne Johnson in role of Black Adam on the left and Zachary Levi in the role of Shazam on the right on the background of 'Shazam 2' release — Credit: Inside the Magic

While new DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran have not officially said that the Shazam series is over, it appears that the future of Zachary Levi and Asher Angel as the magically-empowered superhero and his human alter-ego Billy Batson is unlikely to continue, given the negative reception and low box office returns of the sequel.

In a way, it seems like DC fans might have taken Zachary Levi’s advice about not choosing certain films before he even gave it.

Is Zachary Levi right about Hollywood garbage? Let us know in the comments below!