Captain Marvel is arriving in theaters in slightly over a weeks’ time with a whole load of buzz behind it, but with this being the internet and all, it only figures that Carol Danvers’ solo debut has also been the subject of some backlash.
As you may have heard already, the Rotten Tomatoes page for Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s film has been flooded with negative comments in a campaign to tank the movie’s audience approval score. And since DC superhero Shazam once went under the Captain Marvel name, that means actor Zachary Levi has also been roped into this online feud, with many commenters on Rotten Tomatoes and elsewhere encouraging filmgoers to check out Shazam! instead.
Not happy to see such trolling committed in his movie’s name, Levi has shared a video condemning what he describes as “inflammatory,” “defamatory,” and “completely fictitious” reviews and comments posted online.
“I just found this out last night, and for anyone out there who thinks you’re doing me a favor, you’re doing Shazam! a favor, or you’re doing Warner Bros.— you’re not,” Levi said. “This is not helping anyone or anything.”
Here’s @ZacharyLevi asking fans to stop piting #CaptainMarvel and #Shazam against each other, because IT ISN’T HELPING ANYONE. He’s also calling out the fake reviews and fabricated/defamatory posts about @brielarson. —It’s time for those people to really listen. pic.twitter.com/SzL0iowj5T
— alias (@itsjustanx) February 24, 2019
The Chuck star went on to dismiss the rivalry between Shazam! and Captain Marvel, saying that “anyone out there who is holding on to some bone like they need to pick a side and pick a fight is sorely mistaken.” Levi added that he hopes fans can “chill on that,” before reaffirming his low opinion of the ongoing backlash:
“This is really low blow type of stuff to be going and lying, first of all, you know, is just the bottom of the barrel to me. But to be lying in an attempt to discredit or defame somebody, I think is just really sad…”
While the odds are precisely zero that Levi’s words will halt the continuing stream of online negativity towards Captain Marvel, the MCU’s next release has so far received a glowing response from early viewers, and according to Fandango, has already surpassed the likes of Wonder Woman and Aquaman in pre-sales.
In short, the overall situation actually bodes pretty well for Captain Marvel, but the real test comes when the film hits theaters on March 8th, 2019. After that, Levi makes his DCEU debut when Shazam! comes out on April 5th.
