A battle for mediocrity buzzed among DC fans about whether Black Adam or Shazam: Fury of the Gods was more lacking in substance. The controversy kicked off in the r/DC_Cinematic subreddit when a fan asked subscribers to rate Wonder Woman 84, Batman v. Superman, The Dark Knight Rises, Black Adam, and the Shazam sequel in order from worst to best.
Black Adam immediately took the lead, with some Redditors finding the second film in the Shazam franchise considerably more tolerable.
Other fans thought Shazam 2 wasn’t too bad but took issue with leading man Zachary Levi’s performance.
A pattern soon emerged in the comments among fans who rated Black Adam a worse film than Shazam 2. They did not necessarily think that the former was more flawed than the latter. Most of them never bothered to go to the cinema to watch the Shazam sequel, which speaks volumes.
Another fan described Black Adam as tedious nonsense, but like many others in the comments, refrained from voting for Shazam 2 because they had yet to see it.
Yet another fan abstained from rating Shazam 2 because they hadn’t watched it. They also had some praise for Black Adam.
It’s difficult to say why neither film connected with audiences. Nevertheless, the numbers provide a measure of clarity. Black Adam grossed a global total of $393 million, while Shazam: Fury of the Gods raked in a cool $104.5 million. Both films are flops because Black Adam lost up to $100 million at the box office, and there are think pieces analyzing why Shazam 2 failed. Black Adam grossed almost four times as much money as the Shazam sequel. Ultimately, moviegoers were more willing to show up to see the Rock than Zachary Levi.
Published: Mar 31, 2023 11:01 am