Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg has reacted to the negative reviews on the DC sequel – and revealed why he’s ready to leave superhero movies behind (for now).
"On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film. I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well," Sandberg wrote on Twitter. The Shazam sequel currently sits at 53% Critics’ score and 87% Audience Score on the film aggregator.
"After six years of Shazam I’m definitely done with superheroes for now," the director continued, adding, "I don’t regret even for a second making the Shazam movies. I’ve learned so much and gotten to work with some truly amazing people. Will forever be grateful that I got to direct two of these! They’ve been very challenging but valuable experiences."
In perhaps his most interesting observation, Sandberg also addressed "superhero discourse." In his final threaded post, he said, "A lot of that stresses me out so much and it will be nice not having to think about that anymore."
Sandberg’s words also echo his appearance on the Inside Total Film podcast. While discussing villain plans and that big DC cameo, he touched upon whether he would return to the comic book space.
“Right now I feel like I just want to do another horror movie or something again,” Sandberg said. “First, I miss horror. But also these movies are so much work! It’s like three years per movie. I’ve been doing nothing since Shazam since 2017 so I just need a bit of a break – and then we can talk.”
Shazam 2 is in theaters now. For much more on the DC movie, check out our spoilery deep dives on:
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods ending explained
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods cameos explained
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods post-credits scenes explained
- When will Shazam! Fury of the Gods be on HBO Max?
- Are Shazam and Black Adam the same?
- How to watch the DC movies in order
- The comic history of the Shazam Family explained
- All the new DC movies and TV shows coming soon
- The comic history of Shazam and the Justice Society
- Do Shazam and Wonder Woman have a shared history in comics?
- The comic history of the Olympian Gods
- Shazam 2 director explains why the first movie's villain doesn't return
