BLUE BEETLE: Fans Aren't Happy About Warner Bros.' Decision To Make The Movie An HBO Max-Exclusive

BLUE BEETLE: Fans Aren't Happy About Warner Bros.' Decision To Make The Movie An HBO Max-Exclusive

It's been confirmed that the Blue Beetle movie is heading to HBO Max, and fans aren't happy. However, Warner Bros. Chairman Toby Emmerich believes this expansion on the small screen is best for the DCEU.

News
By JoshWilding - Jun 10, 2021 02:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Blue Beetle
Source: Los Angeles Times

In a new piece from the Los Angeles Times, it's confirmed that Angel Manuel Soto's Blue Beetle movie is one of the mid-budget DC Comics projects skipping theaters and heading straight to HBO Max. 

Batgirl will also premiere on the streaming service, though The Batman, Black Adam, and Aquaman 2 are set to remain exclusive to theaters (it's thought that Warner Bros. will move away from day-and-date debuts on HBO Max for its theatrical slate in 2022). There have been three versions of Blue Beetle over the years, though this movie is set to put the spotlight on Jaime Reyes. 

Having a diverse lead is obviously a big deal for a major superhero franchise, and fans have expressed a lot of anger and disappointment online that Jaime is being relegated to HBO Max. The feeling is that Blue Beetle is a character who deserves to be seen in theaters, but Warner Bros. clearly doesn't agree. That's a shame, but it sounds like the studio is still taking these movies seriously.

"HBO Max presents a huge opportunity for DC," says Warner Bros. Pictures Group Chairman Toby Emmerich. "It allows us to make high-quality mid-budget superhero movies that reintroduce lesser-known DC titles, while also crossing over stand-out characters from our bigger films into original series."

"Connecting the DC cinematic universe with Max gives our fans more ways to explore the DC multiverse and more chances to enjoy more great stories with these beloved characters," he continued. "One of the first examples of a stand-out character crossing over from film to Max is the 'Peacemaker' series, which is a spin-off from James Gunn’s 'Suicide Squad 2.'"

It's certainly an interesting approach, and one that may or may not pay off for Warner Bros. At the very least, it seems the DC Extended Universe is about to expand in a huge way moving forward...

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Himura
Himura - 6/10/2021, 2:13 AM
Let's be real. DC aint at the level of Marvel yet where they can throw any random character out there and make a shit ton of money in theaters with. And Blue Beetle aint exactly a household name.

Direct to streaming is a great option, especially since HBOMax can still give it a decent budget.
UltimaRex
UltimaRex - 6/10/2021, 2:21 AM
@Himura - The Mask?
Humperdink
Humperdink - 6/10/2021, 2:29 AM
@UltimaRex -

Jim Carrey.
ARMUS
ARMUS - 6/10/2021, 3:57 AM
@Himura -
rebellion
rebellion - 6/10/2021, 2:20 AM
What are you basing this article on? You said 'fans arent happy' and everyone should just nod?
bobevanz
bobevanz - 6/10/2021, 2:44 AM
@rebellion - gotta get them clicks I guess lmao
inkniron
inkniron - 6/10/2021, 2:23 AM
Latino characters certainly have gotten the shaft as far as CBMs go but it's a shame they are skipping straight to Jamie. Hopefully we get at least some kind of a hint to Dan Garrett in the Black Adam movie as a set up at least.
dracula
dracula - 6/10/2021, 2:28 AM
@inkniron - Really don't think Dan ever had a chance of getting a movie, he is barely even used in the comics, even less post flashpoint.

Hope they go the DC Rebirth route, give a flashback with Dan, explaining the Scarab, and put Ted in a mentor role, leaving the possibility of him suiting up in the future open. (Love Jamie, but if they do Booster and Beetle, then it has to be Ted)
inkniron
inkniron - 6/10/2021, 2:42 AM
@dracula - I never expected a DG series but heading straight to Jamie is like making Fatfleck old Batman. They're skipping a lot of setup to tell a particular story. The difference is, the general audience knows far less about BB and than Batman and cutting too much exposition is alienating to fans.

Going straight to HBOmax, a series seems like a better option, that way you can tell Jamies origin and have ample time to dig into the character history without feeling rushed. One of DCs biggest problems is trying to overstuff projects to begin with and making cuts that damage quality.
Battabing
Battabing - 6/11/2021, 1:06 AM
@dracula -
The funny thing is that Peacemaker was Jaime's mentor in El Paso in his original series.
dracula
dracula - 6/10/2021, 2:25 AM
Honestly, I think it might work in the movie's favor.

Smaller budget probably means less studio oversight.

Also means they wont do the big stuff right away, they will.

If successful i'm sure a sequel will get a bigger budget and be released in theaters.

Best case scenario, I hope they save The Reach for a potential third movie. (Like Aquaman but they put a trilogy worth of story in 1 movie, and it would have been better if they had focused on either, the search for Mera, the conflict with Manta, or the conflict with Orm)
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 6/10/2021, 8:07 AM
@dracula - Joker's budget was US$70 million and it netted US$1 billion at the box office. The reason this is going to Max is that WB knows because Zack Snyder failed to create a credible DCEU, Blue Beetle as a stand-alone film (in theaters) is just not interesting to potential audiences if it doesn't connect with the rest of a true DCEU (and it won't). This Max-only move is value-destroying, as WB doesn't hit 'reset' with a high-level, shared universe vision where all the pieces are moving strategically.
dracula
dracula - 6/10/2021, 2:34 AM
Im fine with it, we are getting a Blue Beetle movie. We are getting variety from DC, and its sounds great.

Sucks but there just arent many well known latino heroes and most of the ones that are around seem to be legacy heroes who have like 3 or 4 other characters ahead of them. (hope they give Ted a role)

Really looking forward to this, no need to go for a massive scale on the first movie, just focus on Jamie's development into a true hero. Save the Reach for a third movie.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/10/2021, 7:25 AM
@dracula - variety indeed. They can do things Feige and The MCU can’t or won’t go near with a thousand foot pole.
Battabing
Battabing - 6/11/2021, 1:09 AM
@dracula -
It see.s like young heroes at DC and Marvel are getting the streaming treatment. Word is Young Avengers will be a D+ exclusive.
roboticJohnson
roboticJohnson - 6/10/2021, 2:38 AM
Well, hbo max needs to boost subscriptions after all. People don't complain about netflix releasing movies on streaming since, after all, it is a streaming platform. The same should go for hbo max, and since at&t took over wb something like this was to be expected.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 6/10/2021, 2:43 AM
They could have made a mini series to tie into a big budget movie.. like they're doing with Peacekeeper and the Gotham show... did they forget?! I'm so confused at their crackhead decisions, the same could be said for Swamp Thing as well. Idiots
dracula
dracula - 6/10/2021, 2:53 AM
@bobevanz - if Peacemaker survives they can actually tie him into Blue Beetle in a sequel. Peacemaker played a decent role in Jamie’s original comic series
Battabing
Battabing - 6/11/2021, 1:11 AM
@bobevanz -
Zatanna is getting a big screen debut with Constantine and JLD being the HBO Max options.
Battabing
Battabing - 6/11/2021, 1:12 AM
@dracula -
Maybe. Gunn said he's got enough content for a second season.
WakandanQueen
WakandanQueen - 6/10/2021, 3:06 AM
Why don't they just make a miniseries if that's the case?
roboticJohnson
roboticJohnson - 6/10/2021, 3:43 AM
@WakandanQueen - most likely, a budget issue. It's cheaper to make the blue beetle suit for 2, 2.5 hours at most rather than 6 episodes, each one with a 1 hour runtime. Or they could reduce the budget for the miniseries, but that would probably end badly for a cgi-heavy character like blue beetle. Plus, movies have a higher appeal than tv series imo, especially when it comes to characters most of the general audience doesn't know about.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 6/10/2021, 3:19 AM
Mid-budget is troubling.

You take a movie like Deadpool (which technically cost a lot less than it should have because Miller's VFX folks were apparently doing the work at a discount), and there's still a chance that it blows up at the box office (which Deadpool did).

But on a streaming service, that potential for a good movie to explode is probably much less. Sure, it sort of puts a floor under it so it can't be a true flop because sub money isn't directly tied to the movie. But it's got to put a ceiling on it, too.

It may end up being a good move, but it might also squander Blue Beetle's potential. Reyes is like Spider-Man and Iron Man had a baby. He's [frick]ing marketable. This is the kind of strategy you'd take with with Aztek.
BritishMonkey
BritishMonkey - 6/10/2021, 3:30 AM
Where...? Where is this hubbub you're fabricating?
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 6/10/2021, 3:32 AM
I don’t know what fans expect at this point. It’s classic WB. They don’t have faith in DC as an IP, we knew this.
Battabing
Battabing - 6/11/2021, 1:15 AM
@PlusUltra -
Batman, Aquaman, Shazam, Wonder Woman, Black Adam, Joker, The Suicide Squad, DC Superpets, The Flash, Doom Patrol, Titans, Green Lantern, Peacemaker, GCPD, Harley Quinn. Yeah, no faith at all. 🙄
ARMUS
ARMUS - 6/10/2021, 3:53 AM
This is partly why DC/WB continue to fail. Comic book fans : " you know what, Blue Beetle could hit big and has the possibility to compete with a character like Spider-Man and he's Latino, with In The Heights and the West Side Story remake coming it could be the right time for the character."

WB/DC : " Nah! we don't believe in our characters, they don't deserve a decent budget or a theatrical release, our characters suck!!!"

Comic Book fans 😡
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 6/10/2021, 3:54 AM
@ARMUS - and somehow this feels exactly how they make their decisions
ARMUS
ARMUS - 6/10/2021, 3:58 AM
@bkmeijer - True lol
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