“Be patient”: ‘Shazam’ star Zachary Levi tells fans to give new DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran “a break”

(NOTE LANGUAGE) In an Instagram Live on Thursday evening, Zachary Levi urged restless fans to “be patient” as James Gunn and Peter Safran chart a new future for DC Comics superheroes, including his, Shazam. 

As reported, some fans were so vocal in their criticism of some of the pair’s decisions, like not having Henry Cavill reprise as Superman, that Gunn responded to the “disrespectful outcry,” saying, “No one loves to be harassed or called names.”

Levi said, “It’s hard for me to see all these random comments and, like, basically lies and things that people are throwing around online and not wanting to respond.”

“Everyone just take a breath,” Levi advised. “Just trust that James … he understands comic books, he understands the canon … Just breathe. It’s gonna be OK. It’s gonna be better than OK.”

Levi said Gunn and Safran are “not just making decisions because they like someone or don’t like someone. They’re making decisions based on what is best for Warner Bros., DC, that entire studio and entity and trying to make as many fans, as much of an audience, happy as they can.”

He added, “So guys, just f***ing give ’em a break. Take it easy. Take a breath. It’s the holidays, for God’s sake. Just go enjoy what the holidays are, give them some time to enjoy the holidays, and let’s see what happens on the other side of this.”

Levi also hailed his upcoming March sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, as “even better than the first one, and the first one was really f***ing good.”

That said, if his red-suited hero doesn’t end up a part of Gunn and Safran’s plans, “them’s the breaks, that’s how it goes.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.