Zegler, who had her breakthrough performance as Maria in West Side Story (2021), is one of the biggest up-and-coming stars in Hollywood. Not only is she immensely talented, but she will be playing the lead in both The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) and Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White (2024).
However, her most recent outing, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, did not do well. Its opening weekend box office was only $35 million, much smaller than the original Shazam! (2019), and critics have given the sequel a dismal 53% on Rotten Tomatoes.
There are plenty of reasons that this could have happened. Zachary Levi thinks that it may be toxic DC Comics fans. Others have blamed the poor reception of Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam (2022) film.
Rachel Zegler has another idea: critics hate fun.
“It’s… Cool to Hate Fun Nowadays.”
In a recent Tweet, Rachel Zegler was quick to point out that the audiences who have seen Shazam! Fury of the Gods was thoroughly enjoyed the film.
“Hey, our film is actually really good! But mostly I just absolutely loved making it and the people I met whilst doing so 🙂 Go see it! Give it a chance. We have an 85% audience score for a reason.”
Zegler also mentioned that professional and amateur critics have been unnecessarily harsh because “It’s just cool to hate fun.”
“Some people out there and just being… senselessly mean. And it’s unnecessary. And I know, I know, “if you can’t handle the heat…” and all that nonsense, and you’re right. but our film is actually very good. It’s just cool to hate on fun nowadays. That’s okay. We’re good.”
However, Zegler was wrong about one thing. Shazam! Fury of the Gods does not currently have an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s actually sitting even higher at 87%.
The Tweet also featured some fun behind-the-scenes photos, including one with Zegler sitting with co-stars Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren.
Do you think Shazam! Fury of the Gods was received too harshly by critics? Let us know in the comments below.
