Written By Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
Justice Society cameos wouldn’t have prevented Shazam! Fury of the Gods from suffering an 80% collapse in its second Friday. Thus, star Zachary Levi‘s claim that the Rock prevented the Justice Society from appearing in the film is pointless.
Without a doubt, the Justice Society was among the highlights of the Rock’s Black Adam film. In fact, Black Adam marked the silver-screen debut of these ’40s-era comic-book superheroes. The Justice Society debuted in All Star Comics No. 3 in 1940. Co-created by writer Gardner Fox, artist Everett E. Hibbard, and editor Sheldon Mayer, the Justice Society became the first superhero team. In other words, they paved the way for the Justice League of America and Marvel Comics’ the Avengers.
Black Adam finally gave several of the original members, Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) and Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), their long-deserved theatrical introductions. Nevertheless, they didn’t boost Black Adam‘s box office at all.
In the end, Black Adam only ended up with $393 million globally. To the general public, the Justice Society wasn’t familiar enough to be a draw.
Justice Society Wouldn’t Have Stopped Shazam! 2’s 80% Collapse
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
Although the Justice Society have existed for over 80 years in the comic books, they are far from household names. Most people probably only recognize them from Smallville. In a recent Instagram post, Levi revealed the Rock stopped Shazam! Fury of the Gods from utilizing them. Levi stated:
“People are slagging on James Gunn because Jennifer Holland, his wife who is an actor and is in ‘Peacemaker’ and ‘Suicide Squad’…We used Jennifer and Steve in that scene in ‘Shazam.’ That was not the original intent. The original intent was to have Hawkeye and Cyclone to be there inviting me into the Justice Society. Walter Hamada, Peter Safran, David Sandberg…we had an awesome scene and we were thwarted.”
Therefore, some people speculated that the Rock handicapped Black Adam‘s commercial potential with this decision. Certainly, that’s the interpretation Levi seems to be pushing. In Hollywood, that’s called the blame game. It doesn’t change the fact that Shazam! Fury of the Gods acquired a ghastly 51% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Our own reviewer Joseph Todd didn’t hold back his opinions. He wrote:
“Do not expect any surprises or revelations; there are none to be had here. Shazam! 2 could not be bothered to carry over any of the major character arcs developed or resolved from the previous film. It is as though none of the characters experienced any growth beyond aging. The only bright spot of the film was leaked and ruined ahead of time, due to Warner Bros. Discovery panicking over the nonexistent buzz.”
The leak Todd refers to is another dent in the theory that Justice Society could’ve saved the movie from empty seats. Shazam! Fury of the Gods featured an appearance from Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. Gadot’s Wonder Woman is a significantly bigger deal to mainstream audiences than the Justice Society. Given the gossip that DC Studios’ reboot won’t include Gadot, the Shazam! sequel could be our last time to see her as Wonder Woman.
Justice Society Wouldn’t Have Stopped Shazam! 2’s 80% Collapse
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
The effect on ticket sales?
Nothing.
The chirping of crickets was far louder than the sound of any cash registers. For the record, Henry Cavill’s post-credits return as Superman didn’t boost Black Adam, either. Still, that didn’t stop Levi from complaining that the first Shazam! was blocked from having Cavill show up:
“We tried desperately to get Henry Cavill in the first movie. He wasn’t a headless Superman because we wanted him to be a headless Superman. We were thwarted,” Levi revealed. “All of these hard-working people were thwarted. We were not allowed to have that happen, ok? That was not on us. That was not because we didn’t want that to happen for you.”
When the dust settles, all that matters is the quality of Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The initial buzz wasn’t there to begin with. After its release, not enough cared to watch it again or convince others to see it. No post-credits sequence would alter that fate.