A wise person once said about failure, defeat, personal disaster, and setbacks: You either get bitter, or you get better. This perfectly pithy maxim might apply to Zachary Levi, who seemingly scorched Earth on his career recently, endorsing both Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump—generally a big no-no in the striving-for-empathy, so-called “woke” and liberal-leaning Hollywood.
In a recent THR article titled “Shazam! Star Commits “Career Suicide”—Or Does He?” the outlet tried to investigate Levi’s decision to go public by endorsing Trump and the reasons behind it.
Those choices seem rather obvious. The actor was the star of DC’s “Shazam!” franchise, and while the first film was moderately successful, the second film tanked miserably. Then, James Gunn’s DC Studios scrapped the character altogether, presumably recasting the hero at some point down the line.
Subsequent roles, “Spy Kids: Armageddon,” “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget,” and the recent “Harold and the Purple Crayon” bomb didn’t help the notion that Levi’s career was floundering and on a downward trajectory. So, you’d be right if you thought Levi was resentful and angry about it all—perhaps feeling he was entitled to more.
An inside source who spoke to THR on condition of anonymity said, “When he was cast as Shazam!, it was literally his dream. He thought this was his ticket to being The Rock or Chris Evans. But it didn’t happen for him, and he’s bitter about that.”
After the dismal showing of Shazam 2, it seems that Levi began planning his exit strategy and pivoting away from Hollywood. He left Los Angeles, moved to Texas, and began focusing on faith-based projects, like 2021’s Christian-themed “American Underdog” and “The Unbreakable Boy,” which hits theaters in February 2025.
So, while Levi might have instantly made himself unbankable in Hollywood and with many fans—see the “good riddance” response online—it appears that Levi’s endorsement of Trump was strategic. He’s courting not only a conservative audience but also the faith-based conservative film industry that routinely hires similarly political-minded actors such as Jim Caviezel, Kelsey Grammar, and actors of a right-wing persuasion.
This heel turn, as it were, is probably no surprise to online audiences. In the run-up to “Shazam! Fury Of The Gods,” seemingly knowing his career was on the line, Levi became noticeably desperate and cringey on social media, trying to coax audiences to see the film. When it flopped, his online response pointed to a calcifying bitterness that seemed to have already formed.
Will the gambit work? Will the tactic see him come out on top? In the famous words of Jason Bateman’s character in the Vince Vaughn-starring “Dodgeball,” “That’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off.”