DCU Chief James Gunn Defends 'Shazam!' Actor Zachary Levi For Controversial Pfizer Tweet

James Gunn, who's chief of the new DC Cinematic Universe with fellow exec Peter Safran, addressed some recent controversy stemming from Shazam! actor Zachary Levi.

Levi has been trending on Twitter since Sunday after he openly critiqued the internet-favorite Pfizer by quote-tweeting a post calling the pharmaceutical company a "real danger."

The 42-year-old actor was deemed an "anti-vaxxer" and bashed online for seemingly questioning the vaccine amid a rise in myocarditis and heart-related issues for vaccinated individuals.

The attacks kept coming despite Levi deflecting criticism away from the vaccine narrative.

As reported on OutKick:

Levi tried to mitigate the backlash by following up with a link to a government site with an article titled Justice Department Announces Largest Health Care Fraud Settlement in Its History. The article detailed Pfizer’s role in 'illegally promoting four drugs – Bextra; Geodon, an anti-psychotic drug; Zyvox, an antibiotic; and Lyrica, an anti-epileptic drug.'

Gunn, Levi's boss at DC, was pressed on the issue Monday during a news conference discussing new upcoming projects planned for the comic book company.

In his response, Gunn took no issue with Levi's stance, vying for the actor to express his beliefs regardless of whether he agreed or disagreed with them.

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

"Actors and filmmakers that I work with are going to say things that I agree with and things that I don't agree with," James Gunn responded. "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."

The vitriol against Levi has been irrational, with some comparing him to fellow DCU actor Ezra Miller, who's been accused of hitting women.

Levi fell into the same boat as MCU actor Chris Pratt, who's been condemned for boasting conservative values, including a strong religious platform. The Shazam! actor has also been vocal about his faith, noting in past interviews that he participated in Bible studies with a rare few in Hollywood that shared the Christian faith.

But on the bright side, no matter what other innocuous stances Levi voices, it seems that Gunn has his back, which matters more than the Twitter outrage that has led to countless firings and cancelations in the past.

It was another case of a non-issue becoming controversial because the general political stance of commenters on social media, but Levi's sticking to his word as the tweet remains active on his profile.

Levi will star in Shazam! Fury of the Gods — scheduled for release on March 17, 2023.

(Note: Having met the star at a special screening for Shazam! in 2019, Zachary's a nice guy.)