‘Shazam!’ Filmmakers Support James Gunn; Say Marvel & DC Beef Is “Bullsh*t”

Shazam! director David F. Sandberg and producer Peter Safran both dismissed the ongoing DC and Marvel fan rivalry in a recent interview.

The Marvel and DC rivalry has been going on for decades and has started to heat up even more with social media and the slew of films from both companies in recent years. Many directors in the past have come out and said they do not prefer one universe to the other. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has also said every superhero movie that does well both critically and financially only helps the genre, regardless of the brand. James Gunn is even set to go back and forth between brands with The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Shazam! producer Peter Safran shared with Uproxx his thoughts on the recent James Gunn news and the ongoing DC and Marvel rivalry:

“I’ve always believed, that which unites comic book fans, is much greater than that which divides us. And so the whole Marvel, DC rivalry thing is kind of bullshit. Because really we’re all fans of the same thing. I love the fact that he’s directed a movie for Marvel and directed a movie for DC. And the Earth is not spinning off its axis. It’s ok.”

Marvel and DC have been known to crossover in the comics and Shazam! director David F. Sandberg recalls when he saw the heroes team-up when he was a kid:

“When I was a kid in Sweden, I didn’t really know about DC or Marvel. It was just comic books and superheroes.One of my favorites was one where they had a team-up between Superman and Spider-Man. To me, that wasn’t something strange. I was like, yeah, they’re both superheroes. Why not? It wasn’t something special.”

What are your thoughts on David F. Sandberg and Peter Safran’s comments? Sound off in the comments below!

Here is the synopsis for Shazam!: 

We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).

Directed by David F. Sandberg, Shazam! stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans and Djimon Honsou.

Shazam! will be released in theaters on April 5, 2019.

Source: Uproxx