In the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of cinema was up in the air. Multiplexes around the world had locked their doors and, with no obvious end to the lockdowns in sight, many studios began planning for a streaming future.
Warner Bros. leapt into this early with day-and-date digital releases of Wonder Woman 1984, Godzilla vs Kong, and The Suicide Squad (among others), though they went one further and announced two major movies that would be streaming exclusives: Batgirl and Blue Beetle.
We all know the sad fate of Batgirl, though Blue Beetle has had a happier ending and is about to land as a full theatrical release. Now we may know why. According to director Ángel Manuel Soto, they did such a good job of conceptualizing the movie Warner Bros. gave it an upgrade. Speaking to Collider, he said:
“[W]e worked very, very hard to do this world-building where the action sequences, the suit, the passion of the family, and the cultural aspects are presented in a way worthy of watching it, not only in the theater but even on IMAX, and being able to see our communities that way. I think that we did an amazing job in bringing it to life on the concept development of it all that at the end Warner Brothers decided that this movie has to go to the theaters.”
We’ll find out if that early promise can translate to a good movie when the review embargo lifts later today. We’re cautiously optimistic about Blue Beetle, if only because the trailer seems to indicate a slightly retro self-contained superhero origin story.
Here’s hoping it’s a hit, and it would at least be interesting if this underdog that began life as a streaming exclusive went on to outperform Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash.
We’ll find out very soon, as Blue Beetle hits theaters on Friday.