It’s been a rough year for the DCEU, with the once-mighty franchise spluttering towards the finish line following a decade of rampant inconsistency, something that isn’t going to be rectified by Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom if the latest bad buzz is anything to go by. It’s been five weeks since Blue Beetle released, and yet it’s even lagging a million miles behind the majority of the superhero genre’s modest hits.
Having passed $67 million domestically and $115 million worldwide, the origin story of Jaime Reyes has at least recouped its production costs in ticket sales, but profitability is a long way away. It’s a shame when the film comfortably ranks as one of the rare bright spots to have arrived amid a sea of near-constant darkness for the beleaguered franchise, but it’s still nigh-on impossible to find a commercial silver lining.
To put things into perspective, Eternals is generally viewed as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most notable misfires after becoming its first installment ever – and still just one of two – to secure an unwanted Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as being one of the superhero sandbox’s lowest-grossing entries in recent memories after barely scraping past $400 million worldwide.
And yet, Academy Award winner Chloe Zhao’s millennia-spanning epic still managed to bring in $71 million through its first three days on domestic screens, which is more than Blue Beetle has cobbled together in total since landing on Aug. 18. Even when Marvel struggles, then, the gap remains a vast chasm.