With Warner Bros. Discovery looking to shift focus away from making movies for HBO Max, there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the streaming service's future. Already, a number of original titles have mysteriously vanished from the platform, and you'll be all too aware of Batgirl's recent cancellation by now.
Deemed too expensive to warrant a streaming release (where it would be unlikely to gain the number of subscribers needed to recoup the studio's losses) and not cinematic enough for theaters, Batgirl will never see the light of day.
Where does that leave Blue Beetle? The movie was being eyed for HBO Max before suddenly pivoting to a theatrical release, and based on what we've seen in set photos, it's no more or less cinematic than Batgirl. Also, the cast doesn't boast names anywhere near as big as Michael Keaton, J.K. Simmons, and Brendan Fraser outside of perhaps Susan Sarandon.
While it was recently reported that future DC movies are safe from the axe, Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto has gone on a Twitter liking spree. The filmmaker has "Liked" Tweets from fans pleading with Warner Bros. to not scrap his movie and even some that are critical of the studio.
None of this necessarily means that Blue Beetle is at risk, though it does suggest Soto has some concerns for his movie ahead of its planned release on August 18, 2023. It would be a terrible shame for Jaime Reyes' big screen debut to be next on the chopping block, especially with such a diverse cast, but what makes it any different to Batgirl? That remains to be seen.
Here is a sampling of Soto's "Liked" Tweets, including one that translates to read, "HBO Max is (still is) one of the best streaming services, if not the best right now. Its new owners are morons."
No one tell David Zaslav he said that, okay?