‘Shazam!’ David F. Sandberg Makes Fun Of Reddit Post That He, Joss Whedon And Chris McKay Have Been Fired From Warner Brothers

‘Shazam!’ director David F. Sandberg poked fun at an insane Reddit post that… quite frankly speaks for itself in its ludicrousness:

Sandberg highlighted the parts pertinent to him and his role as helmer of the upcoming mystic DC movie about a young boy Billy Batson (to be played by Asher Angel) who is able to transform into an adult superhero, Shazam (played by Zachary Levi).  Sandberg has made his name working with kids in his low-budget horror hits ‘Annabelle: Creation’ and ‘Get Out’.  Being horror movies, okay, yeah, they’re “dark” and “violent,” but not so much “sexy.”

In fact, in August, this is what Sandberg said about his take on ‘Shazam!’:

“The big attraction for me with that character is the fact that every kid dreams of being Superman, right? I mean I certainly did, and (Billy Batson) is a kid that gets that chance. He gets to become the superhero. So, it’ll be big with superpowers in a way. In terms of what people can expect, I think this will be one of the more fun or lighthearted movies so far in the DC universe. It certainly will be a departure.”

Warner Brothers has been consciously lightening their movies since audiences and critics recoiled from the bleak tone of ‘Batman V Superman’.

Levi also discussed the tone of ‘Shazam!’ comparing it to family-friendly ’80s classic ‘Big’:

“Look the movie I think, ultimately the hope is it’s going to feel like the movie Big but with superpowers.  I mean that’s what Shazam is. Billy Batson who’s 13 gets this magical power, he says Shazam, he becomes Captain Marvel Shazam, long story we’ll get into that later, and then he becomes me. So you’ve got to have the heart of that kind of Tom Hanks of the kid in you.”

This anonymous Reddit user also called out Joss Whedon, who handled reshoots and post-production for ‘Justice League’ and is working on the script for ‘Batgirl’ which he is lined up to direct, and Chris McKay, who is directing ‘Nightwing’.  The message also states that Zack Snyder, the director of ‘JL’, is retiring from Hollywood.  Snyder already has another, smaller-scale project in the works, war drama ‘The Last Photograph’. The writer mentions WB exec Kevin Tsujihara, but that part of the posting is not visible.

It’s true that there will likely be some shuffling behind the scenes at Warner Brothers, but why lash out at movies that haven’t been made?  At this point, WB is still trying to figure out how to entice audiences.  While films directly affiliated with ‘Justice League’ may be in for retooling, ‘Shazam!’, ‘Batgirl’ and ‘Nightwing’ could all benefit from existing in their own pockets of the DC Universe.

Of the three, only ‘Shazam!’ has a release date locked in, April 5, 2019.  Angel and Levi are the only confirmed cast members.  Mark Strong is said to be in negotiations to play villain Doctor Sivana, while Grace Fulton is also possibly joining in an undisclosed role.