Blue Beetle (2023)

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Maybe its eye roll inducing and the character is heavy handed in the full context of the movie but as a trailer line it was hilarious.

I mean, the character who said it is supposed to be the conspiratory nut comic relief so....

[Underworld54]

This is tracking for a disastrous $12M-$17M opening weekend.

[Sozo]

$120 million production budget. Yikes. This thing is going to bomb hard.

[unberechenbar]

Is it mostly because The Flash bombed?

[Star Lord]

Should have just dropped this on streaming lol.

[Foggy]

It’s a c-list tier character that’s got no future prospects in a larger scheme of things and zero set up. It’s got no major stars and looks very overtly kid friendly, and even Gunn can only muster up a “pretty good” endorsement of it which feels quite damning compared to “greatest superhero film of all time” but-actually-quite-mediocre Flash. And ultimately it’s coming out after quite an underwhelming year for Superhero films in general. It’s no surprise this one is looking dead on arrival.

[Ruined]

The music in the trailer was really cool. but that was pretty much the only thing i can remember that interested me

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by Foggy

It’s a c-list tier character

*comic character only has one adaption since it's debut in 2012 picking up the mantle from previous character and isn't Batman, Superman, and/or Spider-Man*

"iT ceEEE lIIIISSTtttt chAThcTer!"

[Foggy]

Not to lie, never heard of the character and I think the reports kinda back up most audiences haven’t either.

Of course there’s great ways to get these characters out and successful, I would have said the same of Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange for example. But just dropping $100+ mill on a character without any mainstream set up or really any established talent in front or behind the camera, even before the fact the current DC universe is flagging towards a reset. Are you really surprised reports of this tracking poorly amongst a massively oversaturated market?

[John1701D]

It's really liberating to not give a shit about the box office. I'll hopefully have another movie I'll enjoy, just like The Flash, Black Adam, and Fury of the Gods.

[Johnny Blu]

Originally Posted by John1701D

It's really liberating to not give a shit about the box office. I'll hopefully have another movie I'll enjoy, just like The Flash, Black Adam, and Fury of the Gods.

Do I wish those movies (and Blue Beetle) did better at the box office...yes. Did the poor box office equate to them not being good movies...absolutely not. I enjoyed all three and seen each multiple times already.

One thing I will add, is I don't care that these movies will not add to a tied-in universe. I simply want good movies and have fun watching them.

[mwynn]

What is with DC and Ted Kord? In nearly all of media appearances he is killed?

[John1701D]

Originally Posted by Johnny Blu

Do I wish those movies (and Blue Beetle) did better at the box office...yes. Did the poor box office equate to them not being good movies...absolutely not. I enjoyed all three and seen each multiple times already.

One thing I will add, is I don't care that these movies will not add to a tied-in universe. I simply want good movies and have fun watching them.

The only reason a box office take matters to me is it decides whether or not I'll get more of that thing. This going on in multiple posts about "omg this movie or that movie is such a bomb!" is tiresome.

[d2cheer]

The trailer looks bad to me but may catch it streaming.

Xolo Maridueña is a horrible actor. I quit watching Cobra Kai because of him. But as others have said it looks a little to young adult for me also.

[originalHDphantom]

Originally Posted by d2cheer

Xolo Maridueña is a horrible actor. I quit watching Cobra Kai because of him. But as others have said it looks a little to young adult for me also.

I actually think he's a pretty decent actor and really the only reason I have any interest in seeing Blue Beetle at all.

[Ben_C]

Originally Posted by John1701D

It's really liberating to not give a shit about the box office. I'll hopefully have another movie I'll enjoy, just like The Flash, Black Adam, and Fury of the Gods.

Yep, I enjoyed Dial of Destiny, and didn’t give a crap about how much money it did or didn’t make (there won’t be another sequel anyway, so box office takings won’t have any influence in that regard).
Dead Reckoning might not make as much money as expected, but Part 2 is coming anyway, and it certainly hasn’t affected how I feel about the film a few days after seeing it.

As for Blue Beetle, the trailer before Oppenheimer is the only exposure I’ve had to it, and I thought it looked painfully generic.

[CaptainYoda]

Remember the old days when a movie could come out and not have to tie in to 200 other movies down the road? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

Anyways, I think this looks like a fun movie. If it is a one and done, no big deal. It could still be enjoyable.

[drb999]

It could easily be slipped into what Gunn is doing. So even if it’s not tied in now it can be later.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

So no DC movies for a whole 3 years?

Originally Posted by Joey9775

I think it's the only way to get people back on the train.

Frankly I think 5 years minimum would be better (10 years would probably be more ideal to really drive home the separation between universes), but we all know that they won't wait that long. It's not that I don't want to see these movies, but this thing needs to rest for a while.

The DCEU really never found it's footing. It's been a mixed bag at best.

For those enjoying the movies that are still coming out (but not doing well at the box office), that's fine. I did see the Flash (mainly for Keaton's Batman), and overall I enjoyed it.

[Show spoiler]My only issue is the ending with George Clooney. I did laugh and I do appreciate the joke that they went for in-and-of itself. But they changed the original ending (which would have had Keaton's Bruce Wayne and Supergirl there) because it was going to be setting up future movies that now won't be made. But as a result, it just leaves the world that Keaton's Batman and that version of Supergirl inhabit to be doomed, and with them not surviving through multiverse/timeline altering shenanigans, it makes pretty much the entire part of the movie that took place in that universe feel utterly pointless.

But what we are seeing with both DC and Marvel (and other films like Indiana Jones) is a whole lot of mishandling of these franchises overall and audiences just having enough of it.

I'm going to go down an MCU rabbit hole here, but I will get back to DC (all of this is related to the overall problem). While there were some so-so movies here and there, overall the first 3 phases of the MCU (aka the infinity saga) were pretty rock solid, and we saw how it grew over the course of time, building to something amazing. The individual movies were mostly entertaining, and were building to a larger overall completed puzzle.


But what we are seeing now (and to some extent have been seeing all along with DC, albeit now it's at a much bigger level) is the opposite of that.

There have been some good movies that have been profitable. But with Marvel, overall with Phase 4 and onward, they have failed in really feeling like they are building up to something new. Many of the movies (not all, but many) haven't been as good individually as most that came in the first three phases. Then throw in the Disney+ shows, many of which feel like they should have been 2 hour movies, but have been stretched out to be spread across several episodes, which have been a mixed bag of quality as well, and it's just A TON of "content" that starts to feel like it's all a bunch of required homework and a chore to watch just to understand the eventual next Avengers movie.

While some have been entertaining, bringing the Disney+ shows into the mix was a huge mistake IMO. It spread the creative talent way too thin. It has created more complication (rather than helped) in bringing the bigger picture together, and again, just feels like a chore to keep up with.

It was already a bit much to ask when it started to average 3 movies a year, but that was an amount that was within reason for people to keep up with. Now it's just overwhelming. And for those who weren't already subscribed to Disney+ and are in a position of needing to catch up... most of them are probably going to look at all of that stuff and say, "F--- it!"



Sure, it is the multiverse saga and they are trying to "build another puzzle," so to speak. But it feels like it's a bunch of pieces from different puzzles all being thrown together in a pile with the bigger picture really NOT coming together. And except for stand out exceptions like Guardians 3 (which people are likely wanting to see since it's wrapping up the story of that specific group of characters and want to see where things go with the alternate version of Gamora from Endgame), we are seeing the opposite effect of what Phases 1-3 did.

The momentum and good will that was built during the Infinity Saga was such that Marvel could make a movie about characters that at the time were largely unknown to the public, like the Guardians of the Galaxy, and have it be a success. The Avengers was a huge hit, they were building to the second Avengers movie, and along the way Marvel/Disney basically said, "Here's a movie with a Raccoon and Tree that can talk!" and the audience responded, "Okay, we're in!!!"

Now the overall quality is dragging everything down. I honestly don't know how they are going to correct the ship at this point. Even if every Marvel project that they begin work on from this day forward is of top notch quality, of the same caliber as the better entries in Phases 1-3, they go back to 2 or 3 movies a year, and slow down or entirely stop the production of more connected TV shows, it's still going to all be connected to this overall huge pile of "barf" that has come out in the meantime. There is simply no escaping that now.

While there are some movies that I didn't care as much for in Phases 1-3 like Iron Man 2 and Thor The Dark World, for example, and I probably would have lost interest if the quality of the other films never surpassed those (but they did), I will still happily watch them again as part of a rewatch of the entire Infinity Saga because I still appreciate it as a whole, and there are worse movies in the world to rewatch.

But for me at least, Phase 4 and onward has been the opposite. The really good ones are the occasional exceptions IMO. Most of rest have been of that middling quality at best, and there's just so much of it that I've more or less checked out. If 3 years ago you had told me I would be writing what I just said and actually mean it, I would have called you crazy. But here we are.



Getting back to DC, they arguably have it somewhat worse at the moment since their movies are flat out tanking so badly. That universe never really gained the momentum that the MCU did. And they basically announced a reboot of everything well in advance, with none of these current movies leading to a satisfying conclusion to this universe, and people have checked out.

There's been talk of Blue Beetle being the "beginning" of the new universe, and even if that has retroactively become the intent, they are just creating confusion by trying to have the new universe start immediately while we are still in the midst of movies from the dead-end universe coming out, and with a character that most of the public has never heard of.

It will probably a decent, fine, relatively entertaining movie. But it looks like another cookie-cutter superhero origin story. Sure, the specific details with be different, but in broad terms, it looks to be following the same common tropes that we've seen MANY times already.

And from what has been said, it sounds like some elements from the existing universe may carry over. Again, that will just cause confusion.

What they need to do is have the new continuity be 100% completely separate from the existing one. And they need a decent amount of time in between them to really drive that home.

They can't be "wishy-washy" about this. They can't start a new universe while the other is still winding down (or immediately after it ends), and pick and choose what elements that were originally part of the old universe will now carry over to the new one. Otherwise the current downward spiral is going to drag the new universe down with it. The audiences that have already checked out will either not know the difference, or just not care if they do know it. The momentum is going in the WRONG direction. They need to let that particular momentum die down, letting things get to a resting point, so they can start from an neutral playing field and build positive momentum.

But I will NOT be holding my breath on them actually doing that.

[Shadowscythe85]

I believe that Gunn has said that Blue Beetle is the first character of the new DCU. Wouldn't doubt it if factors in Booster Gold series to some degree. I've enjoyed the last few DC movies. Nothing groundbreaking but fun. This looks to be more of the same so will check it out in theaters at some point.