One of the major takeaways from Dwayne Johnson’s ill-fated and incredibly short stint as part of the DCU was that the actor and producer seemed to have little no interest at all in David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! saga, even though he was involved in both of them behind the scenes through his Seven Bucks company.
It swiftly became clear that The Rock only sought to leverage the Man in Black’s association with Billy Batson’s costumed alter ego as a means to put himself into the path of Henry Cavill’s Superman, a strategy that looked as if it was going to pay huge dividends for a hot minute before it imploded in spectacular fashion.
Not only that, but not too long after reports emerged that Johnson held a thinly-veiled disdain for Shazam!, it was then claimed he turned down the opportunity to cameo in Fury of the Gods because he deemed it to be beneath him. We all know how that turned out in the end, but Zachary Levi was as diplomatic as you’d expect when asked by Jake’s Takes about whether or not a guest spot from his beefy nemesis was ever on the cards.
“That’s all so far above my pay grade. I have no idea. I know that in the comics, and even in some animation, there’s been some really cool, epic battles between Shazam and Black Adam… Shazam, Superman and Black Adam. I know a lot of fans wanted that. I know I was totally open to that, but that’s all I know.”
His response may be about as vanilla as it gets, but Levi wasn’t above trolling Johnson on social media in the aftermath of Black Adam being unceremoniously cast out of the DCU, although at least the online heat magnet hasn’t quite resorted to pointing and laughing in public, but maybe he will eventually if Shazam! 3 gets the green light.