Shazam Star Zachary Levi Calls Out James Gunn For Casting His Brother In The DCU

The Gunns are running rampant in the world of superheroes. However, the dynamic between James and Sean Gunn is notably different from creator sibling duos like the Coen brothers and the Wachowskis in that the former makes films, while the latter acts in them and performs motion capture. It's hard to argue against Sean Gunn's talents as a performer, but the fact that he often works in his brother's movies seems like it might attract the occasional unsavory comment ... and now, one has emerged from within the DC family. 

With James Gunn and Peter Safran now in charge of the DC Studios, the DC Universe is in the middle of an overhaul that involves Sean Gunn replacing Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord in the DCU, with a potential first appearance in the elder Gunn's next directorial endeavor, "Superman: Legacy." In an interview with ComicBook.com's Chris Killian, "Shazam!" and "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" star Zachary Levi discussed his potential DCU future. When Killian asked whether he'd be willing to take on a new character like Sean Gunn, the actor seemed nonplussed at first. After being reminded of Gunn's previous DC roles as Weasel and Calendar Man in "The Suicide Squad," Levi offered his view of the Maxwell Lord situation. "When you're the brother of the guy who runs DC, I guess you get to play who you want," he said. 

In a longer version of the ComicBook.com interview, Zachary Levi also discussed his relationship with James Gunn and Peter Safran. "Listen, I've known Peter now for years because he's my producer on 'Shazam!' and I've known James Gunn for even more years," the actor said. "We have mutual friends and we've had game nights together in LA. I've been at a Christmas party of his and almost was Star-Lord in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'."

This relationship brings a bunch of additional context to Levi's comment and implies that he wasn't exactly taking potshots into the unknown. Since he says that he's on good terms with Gunn, the apparent swipe at Sean Gunn can be taken as a throwaway joke instead of a genuine call-out. It would make sense that Levi isn't trying to actively insult the co-head of DC Studios by implying that Gunn lets his brother pick his roles since Levi's own future in the DCU is still unclear. The actor himself would like to stay on board and has expressed interest in working with a representative of the Green Lantern Corps — whether it's Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner as he stated in the interview, or Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. For now, it remains to be seen whether these aspirations ever come to fruition.