A Stunning Number Of DC Fans Aren't Looking Forward To Shazam! Fury Of The Gods
Being in foster care can sometimes be a rough experience for a child, but sometimes a little hope comes along in the form of an ancient wizard that bestows the ability to transform into a super-powered adult and become a hero to many. The wizard known as Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) seeks out an individual of pure heart to become his champion, and in the original "Shazam!" film, he chooses Billy Batson (Asher Angel). When calling out the wizard's name, Billy is transformed into an adult hero (Zachary Levi) of the same name as the wizard that granted him powers — or Captain Marvel for longtime fans of DC Comics.
The 2019 film "Shazam!" proved to be a rare hit for the DC Universe, which is reflected in the movie's current critical score of 90% and audience score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. Besides being well received by both critics and the general public, "Shazam!" also did fairly well at the box office, with The Numbers noting that the film made around $363 million globally against an $85 million budget. Not exactly a runaway financial success, but one that secured the lighthearted film a sequel. Now that the trailer for "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" has dropped, it seems like some fans have fairly strong opinions.
Although many are excited for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, some aren't
BuzzFeed reported that at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, director David F. Sandberg said of the upcoming sequel, "For most of the first movie, the family doesn't even know about Shazam and the powers. So now we actually get to see how the family functions together or sometimes doesn't function. You'll see them deal with a proper huge threat. The stakes are bigger, so the action's bigger." Checking out the trailer for "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," one can clearly see what the director was talking about because the trailer is filled with Billy and his friends coming up against forces that clearly look powerful and dangerous.
Although there are many who are excited about "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" after checking out the above trailer, there is definitely a group that couldn't care less. User darwing884 wrote, "This will bomb harder than Black Adam. I'll watch it when it drops on HBO Max." 2000nab wrote that "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" looks like the kind of movie that is forgotten in an hour, and radicalcentrist1242 explained that they think that "Shazam 2" will suffer from the cliché of the central protagonist losing their powers and will have to regain them by the final act of the film. However, those weren't the only negative comments amid a sea of excitement, with some expressing their thoughts on social media.
Some Twitter users think the second trailer for Shazam 2 has spoiled the movie
Over on Twitter and Reddit, comments were very similar to any of the ones viewable underneath any of the YouTube trailers for "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" in the sense that fans were surprisingly divided on the trailer. Many are excited to see what the next chapter in Billy Batson's life might look like, as well as his new retinue of allies, but some like @Krashy, @BearUNLV, and @Sheremu believe that this new trailer has essentially spoiled the movie, and they aren't particularly interested in seeing it now. @BasitAhmad_ went so far as to call "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" the most pointless movie of the year — but didn't elaborate any further.
@tserkloop unleashed a salvo of sarcasm, and tweeted, "Thank you for showing us the whole movie in 2 minutes. I'll be saving my money now," while @AyugaWind wrote, "This kind of sucks I really liked Shazam 1 but this looks like an overuse of green screen and the trailer just shows the last act." @cyththierry also had a strong reaction to this new trailer, and said, "This movie got hurt so bad by James Gunn's [decision] to rebooting DC, that the Director doesnt care of showing too much in the trailer... thats not cool."
Several Redditors also have concerns about Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Much like the varying comments on Twitter and YouTube, Reddit also featured thoughts and opinions regarding the second trailer for "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," and these were just as stratified as any other collection of comments on the internet. u/Huntersteve complained about the look of this brand new trailer for "Shazam 2," and added that even though they really liked the first movie, they think this new one will be an absolute mess and quite generic.
Displaying some apprehension, u/MurielHorseflesh wrote, "Far better trailer than the first clearly. The movie looks just ok though, but then so did the first and I love that movie. The real question: Having seen the full trailer, will you be going to the theater to see it? Honestly I think I'll be waiting for streaming for this one sad to say." Meanwhile, u/wdm81 joked, "I hate that they spoiled the villain for all the upcoming movies. I don't know much from the comics but I hope they stay true to how James Gunn appears on the page."
Though many want to see the new "Shazam!" movie, others on social media think that the movie doesn't look good, or place their rage squarely at the DCU's new ringleader of James Gunn as some kind of scapegoat. Either way, it will be fascinating to see how audiences truly react when "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" premieres on March 17.