DC Studios Boss James Gunn Responds To SHAZAM! Star Zachary Levi's Controversial Anti-Pfizer Tweets

DC Studios Boss James Gunn Responds To SHAZAM! Star Zachary Levi's Controversial Anti-Pfizer Tweets

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has responded to Shazam! Fury of the Gods star Zachary Levi's recent controversial Tweets while fielding questions about actors from the DCEU making the leap to the DCU...

By JoshWilding - Feb 01, 2023 05:02 AM EST
Source: Variety

Social media has given celebrities a platform to share their personal opinions, resulting in praise, cancellations, and controversy in equal measure. 

Over the weekend, Shazam! Fury of the Gods star Zachary Levi came under fire in a big way on Twitter. The actor shared a Tweet from a British TV host whose bio brags about being called "anti-vax" and "transphobic" that asked who else agrees Pfizer - one of the pharmaceutical companies that produce COVID-19 vaccines - is a danger to the world.

Levi said he "Hardcore [agrees]," and went on to share a 2009 press release about Pfizer being punished for misbranding an anti-inflammatory drug. 

During a recent Q&A with select members of the press, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn was asked for his thoughts on Levi's Tweets amid speculation about whether actors and characters from the existing DCEU will exist within the new DCU.

"Actors and filmmakers that I work with are going to say things that I agree with and things that I don't agree with," Gunn stated (via Variety). "And that's going to happen. I don't have a list of things that somebody should say because of what I think. And you know, I can't be changing my plans all the time because an actor says something that I don't agree with."

"By the same token, if somebody's doing something morally reprehensible then that's a different story. We have to take all that stuff into account. It's a balance. It's a modern world and it's a different place."

Gunn is no doubt thinking back to how Disney fired him after some offensive jokes he shared on Twitter resurfaced years later. Ultimately, Levi is entitled to his opinion, though he may want to tread carefully as others who have arguably gone too far with their anti-vax views - The Mandalorian's Gina Carano, for example - have found themselves ostracised from Hollywood.

However, with Shazam! franchise producer Peter Safran serving as DC Studios' co-CEO, we're guessing this version of the Big Red Cheese has a future in the DCU!

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section. 

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bobevanz
bobevanz - 2/1/2023, 5:23 AM
So basically, talk shit get hit lol
SuperiorHeckler
SuperiorHeckler - 2/1/2023, 6:20 AM
@bobevanz - Unless you happen to be Ezra Miller. 🙄
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 2/1/2023, 7:06 AM
@SuperiorHeckler - it’s a pronoun game.
MonkeyBot
MonkeyBot - 2/1/2023, 5:25 AM
That makes sense.

Ezra though...
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 2/1/2023, 5:34 AM
@OptimusCrime - Yeah, I'd say he falls under the "doing something morally reprehensible" category.
MonkeyBot
MonkeyBot - 2/1/2023, 3:17 PM
@Urubrodi - 100%
Corruptor
Corruptor - 2/1/2023, 5:42 AM
A little boy in a man's body.
Fogs
Fogs - 2/1/2023, 5:43 AM
God forbid attacking the corporate lords and saviors.

He was talking about the company. And yeah, most big companies are mercenaries, so what?
Webster614
Webster614 - 2/1/2023, 9:12 AM
@Fogs - Funny thing is... most of the people upset with him taking aim at Pfizer are the same people that argue against large corporations... or used to anyway.
Spawnnn
Spawnnn - 2/1/2023, 5:54 AM
The obsession with cancelling everything and everyone that has a slightly different view on a topic is just dumb af. I mean there are boundaries, of course, but this laughable shit? Common people. Get a grip.
mpk1988
mpk1988 - 2/1/2023, 5:58 AM
Levi said nothing wrong - pharma , especially American is a monster
elgaz
elgaz - 2/1/2023, 6:03 AM
Levi is welcome to say whatever he wants, free speech is still a thing. However, bit rich for Gunn to say "if somebody's doing something morally reprehensible then that's a different story" and ignore the elephant in the room that is Ezra Miller, who has been accused of assault, coercion, abuse and more.
JackRussoff3
JackRussoff3 - 2/1/2023, 6:04 AM
Anyone defending Pfizer and shaming anyone for questioning them or calling them out is a piece of shit.



And Gunn has zero room to talk when it comes to things like this

End of line


Kadara
Kadara - 2/1/2023, 10:37 AM
@JackRussoff3 - Did you read what Gunn said? Basically he's saying he's not going to censor what people say or do, whether he agrees with them or not. I don't see how that's a bad thing.
JackRussoff3
JackRussoff3 - 2/1/2023, 12:37 PM
@Kadara - I did. I couldn't care less.

He said that because of his own past. Don't want to appear hypocritical do we?

My initial statement was more important
KWilly
KWilly - 2/1/2023, 6:06 AM
The Levi thing is really not that big of a deal. It's Ezra that should be facing actual consequences. Not just a freakin 500 dollar fine.
Supercat6376
Supercat6376 - 2/1/2023, 6:45 AM
Cant question the shibboleth of the vaccine. Peoples heads can’t handle it. They think they’ve done the right thing, their moral obligation to do right by others; but in reality the vax was a load of crap .
Webster614
Webster614 - 2/1/2023, 9:16 AM
@Supercat6376 - It's crazy what the fight over the vax has done. These people crying about Levi criticizing Pfizer are the same people that 3 years ago were so anti large corporations, "big pharma", etc. But that plays to your point... They feel they have done what was right, or their moral obligation so now they will defend it. No matter how sill it looks because Pfizer like a lot of Pharma companies are shady AF.
Supercat6376
Supercat6376 - 2/1/2023, 2:00 PM
@Webster614 - there is no data you can give to them that would get them to change their minds. They are so locked in. You are absolutely correct. They’ve become pro crony capitalism babies.
Radders
Radders - 2/1/2023, 6:48 AM
All you can do is laugh at this and whisper Ezra Miller lol
CAPTAINPINKEYE
CAPTAINPINKEYE - 2/1/2023, 6:52 AM
Can't imagine why people give a shit and care about what an actor says about something outside of their area of expertise. What's his opinion on drywall repair? Or stock portfolios? Who gives a shit what you think Zachary. And shame on people who give a shit what an actor thinks or a truck driver thinks about the vaccine.
Fares
Fares - 2/1/2023, 8:04 AM
@CAPTAINPINKEYE - Whoever came up with the notion that actors, or successful people in general, need to act like role models (however you define that) in all areas of life made life unnecessarily harder for both us and them.
CAPTAINPINKEYE
CAPTAINPINKEYE - 2/1/2023, 8:34 AM
@Fares - yup
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 2/1/2023, 6:54 AM
''if somebody's doing something morally reprehensible then that's a different story''

So, Ezra Miller? What's up with that then?

Really hope Gunn goes with Wally West as the next Flash though. Regardless of Miller, I always like Wally West more than Barry Allen.
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