We are less than two months away from getting ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ in the theatres. And its fate certainly looks foggy despite treasuring talents like Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Lucy Liu, Rachel Zegler, and Dame Helen Mirren. The merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery Inc has made things messier than before. Especially for DCEU or DCU. James Gunn and Peter Safran can make all the promises they want about the future of DC. But the harsh reality is that the fate of upcoming DC films looks grim.
With all that is happening with DC right now, the forthcoming Shazam sequel will surely encounter numerous obstacles after its theatrical release in March this year. Let’s have a closer look at them!
The competition is too great to ignore
It seems like Shazam 2 may get sandwiched between Michael B. Jordan’s Creed 3 and Keanu Reeves’ John Wick: Chapter 4. Plus, we cannot ignore Scream VI. Moviegoers are genuinely excited about these films. They have immense hype. Also, there are rumours about the DC sequel not receiving a release in China. If that happens, the film will lose a lot of money before even hitting the theatres.
Lack of marketing by Warner Bros Discovery
We are so close to Shazam 2’s theatrical release. However, it seems like WBD is not interested in promoting ‘Fury of the Gods’ at all. Placing all the bets on Black Adam was undoubtedly a big mistake for the company. The Dwayne Johnson starrer failed to reach its break-even point and earned only $393 million globally (so much for the change in the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe). Black Adam needed to do one thing that mattered the most. Earn money. And we all know what happened.
A report from The Hollywood Reporter in August last year claimed that WBD had enough money to market two projects: Black Adam and Don’t Worry Darling. Also, the company is reportedly in immense debt, courtesy of taking billions from AT&T. These scenarios indicate that the makers of Shazam 2 should promote the project on their own instead of relying on WBD. Ryan Reynolds did it for the first Deadpool film.
The latest trailer showed too much
This is where DC needs to take lessons from Marvel. The latter specialises in delivering suspenseful yet enthralling trailers. Just look at the latest trailer of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It made fans emotional and super excited about the upcoming MCU instalment without spoiling the film’s story. But we cannot say the same about Shazam 2’s latest trailer. It showed way too much from the film and kind of spoiled those moments that could have surprised the audience.
The complete reboot of the DC Universe
We all know the DC Universe is on the precipice of a complete reboot. No one knows whether Shazam is a part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s plans for the franchise’s future. That is why we should not expect the fans to get excited about the sequel.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will hit the theatres on March 17. Stay tuned for more updates.