Blue Beetle is out this weekend, and while many are predicting a relatively low box office for the relatively obscure hero (at least to the general public), review scores are in, and they’re pretty solid. At least for the DCEU.
Whether you want to consider this a DCEU movie or not is up for debate. James Gunn has indicated that Blue Beetle was the first in the “new era” of DC films, but there’s also apparently a reference at least to Cavill’s Superman, plus the lines between what is or isn’t DCEU and DCU have been blurred with potential carryover characters that Gunn still hasn’t clarified one way or the other.
Regardless, as it stands, Blue Beetle is the fourth highest rated DCEU movie right now, here’s where it ranks:
- Wonder Woman – 93%
- Shazam! – 90%
- The Suicide Squad (Gunn) – 90%
- Blue Beetle – 79%
- Birds of Prey – 78%
- Justice League (Snyder) – 72%
- The Flash – 64%
- Aquaman – 65%
- Wonder Woman 1984 – 58%
- Man of Steel – 56%
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods – 49%
- Justice League (Whedon) – 39%
- Black Adam – 38%
- Batman V Superman – 29%
- Suicide Squad – 26%
So I mean, not the highest of bars, and some of these scores are sort of whack, but that’s a solid starting point for Blue Beetle, which is supposed to be a lot of fun (it also has a 95% early audience score), and is in pretty good company at the top of the list there. Ironically the highest rated DCEU project in total is James Gunn’s Peacemaker season 1 show on HBO Max, with a 94%
However, DC is in a bad enough state where critic scores essentially mean nothing right now, and Blue Beetle is going to need some serious help after huge bombs like The Flash and Shazam 2. With a lesser known hero, it’s certainly a risk that this could do even worse. No one would have predicted The Flash, flawed as it may have been, would lose a record $200 million. Though Blue Beetle’s budget won’t be nearly as high.
I hope it does well. Blue Beetle has always been a fun character, and it’s great to have a focus on a Latino superhero. I also really like Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña and think he deserves to have his high-profile, big screen debut go well. But there’s what should happen and what will happen, and I don’t think we know how this is going to play out yet.
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