Zachary Levi was a part of the MCU long before being cast as Shazam for the DC Universe. The actor appeared in two Marvel movies as part of the Asgardian Warrior Three. Levi was first cast in the role of Fandral in 2011’s Thor.
However, the actor dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts with the third season of Chuck. Josh Dallas was tapped to replace Levi in the movie, who was unable to return as the Asgardian in Thor: Dark World.
Dallas was unable to return as the Asgardian in Thor: Dark World. Levi returned to the role, but the actor revealed on the Happy, Sad, Confused Podcast that Feige promised him a more prominent role in the second Thor movie, which did not happen.
“Feige is like, ‘Hey, would Zach want to take this role again?'” Levi said. “And to be honest, look… and I insisted on talking to Kevin about it, for two reasons. One, I saw the first movie, and I didn’t really feel like the Warriors Three were utilized in that great of a way.”
He adds, “And I was like, ‘Is that going to be the case again, because if it is, I don’t really want to do that, you know?’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, it’s gonna be a huge part of this movie.’ Not so much, as it turned out.”
Levi’s final MCU appearance was in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. Fandral and the Asgardian Warrior Three were killed off in the movie along with several other key characters as part of director Taika Waititi’s bid to revitalize the series. Marvel already planned to end his character in the film.
Fandral’s final line before being killed off by Thor’s older sister Hela was “For Asgard.” Unfortunately, the line was cut from the final release, further driving home that the group didn’t quite get their chance at the spotlight.
After Levi’s brief appearance in the MCU, the actor signed with DC Films to star in the Shazam series. Unfortunately, his second outing as the superhero did not pan out so well. Shazam! Fury of the Gods did not have the box office performance that DC Studios hoped for.
Shazam’s future in the DC Universe remains uncertain as Shazam 2 is tracking to be a box office bomb. The movie suffered one of the worst second-week drops in DC franchise history and may not break even as it continues to nosedive down the box office charts.
It will be interesting to see where the actor goes from here. DC may still have plans for Shazam in the future, but there are currently no projects lined up for the character at the moment. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is currently showing in theaters.
