DC Comics Chain of Disappointments: Is Blue Beetle the Hope for Superhero Movies?

DC Comics Chain of Disappointments, but There Remains the Hope of Blue Beetle

Are superhero movies really going through bad times? That seems to be the overall finding. However, when we analyze each case individually, things are not necessarily gloomy for the superheroes from Marvel and DC Comics. Recently, it is particularly the DC comics stable that has been facing challenges as the formula of its superhero blockbusters is losing its appeal: Black Adam is not reversing the trend, and The Flash is struggling instead of excelling. The new DCU executives James Gunn and Peter Safran will need to find a solution if they want to avoid the next Superman becoming their downfall.

Nevertheless, there are setbacks in the DC Comics filmography. Among them, we can mention Wonder Woman (directed by Patty Jenkins, produced by Zack Snyder), The Suicide Squad (by James Gunn, the new boss of DCU), and most recently, Blue Beetle. Despite having a low-key marketing campaign, Blue Beetle is the one that brings life back to DC Comics, in a way. The amazing part is that it competes critically with some of Zack Snyder’s best movies!

Blue Beetle Achieves the Feat of a Packed Audience and a Catastrophic Box Office

Sometimes a positive reception from the audience does not necessarily translate into commercial success. Blue Beetle may shine in comparison to the Snyderverse films in terms of reviews, but it falls short in box office numbers. It currently holds the record for the worst opening of any DC film! Although it dethroned Barbie during its first week, reality quickly set in. To win over the box office, it will need to improve. On the other hand, it seems that the audience is on the right track, as confirmed by the site Rotten Tomatoes.

With a critical recommendation percentage of 76% and an audience recommendation percentage of 92%, Blue Beetle is almost on par with the final version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (with Joss Whedon’s involvement at the time). However, these averages should be taken with a grain of salt. While opinions from critics are relatively similar (202 reviews for Blue Beetle and 313 for Justice League), Justice League demonstrates its superiority in terms of audience reviews. It’s astonishing to see that Justice League reached 93% with over 25,000 reviews, while Blue Beetle only reaches 92% with just over 1,000 viewer reviews.