DC Studios finally broke its streak of bad films—at least, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
The studio’s last three endeavors weren’t received all too well. Black Adam did so poorly that it played a part in another massive change in leadership at DC, which also resulted in the exits of Dwayne Johnson and Henry Cavill from future plans.
Both Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash didn’t fare much better, with the latter actually becoming one of the biggest flops in Hollywood history.
Things are trending far better for the DC Studios’ latest adventure, Blue Beetle. Overall, critics and audiences seem to be enjoying it; a nice change of pace for the company.
Blue Beetle Is Certified Fresh
DC Studios just broke its bad three-movie trend on Rotten Tomatoes.
Blue Beetle now boasts a Certified Fresh rating on the platform, with the DCEU movie sitting at 77% critic approval score. The last DC Studios project to be Certified Fresh was The Suicide Squad, which received a 90% rating from critics.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the definition of Certified Fresh means that a project needs to have a 75% or higher after a set amount of critic reviews—80 for films in wide release.
Prior to Blue Beetle, DC Studios were not having the best of luck with its theatrical releases. On Rotten Tomatoes, Black Adam got a 38%, Shazam! Fury of the Gods landed at 49%, while The Flash arrived at 64%.
As it currently stands, only six of the 16 DCEU movies hold this special designation. Most fall below the 75% benchmark, with plenty of them also being considered Rotten.
Can DC Studios Keep Up the Fresh Streak?
Many fans will be thrilled to see DC Studios at least get one win. But, while good reception is one thing, box office performance is another.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like Blue Beetle will perform remarkably great in that arena. Currently, the movie is estimated to bring in a total of $25-$32 million in its opening weekend.
It’s unclear if that’ll be enough for the film to get a proper sequel. However, at the very least, James Gunn already confirmed that Xolo Maridueña will be returning to the DCU in some fashion.
While Jaime Reyes’ debut is doing well on Rotten Tomatoes, the odds don’t look so great for the Certified Fresh trend to continue.
Next up is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and rumors aren’t being very kind about its potential quality.
According to rumors, the general consensus from test audiences has been that the film is “boring, not as good as the first, and potentially one of the worst DCEU movies.” Other reactions only reinforced those sentiments, stating that the reactions “have not been good.”
The situation is so worrying that insider Jeff Sneider claimed to have heard how it’s so terrible that Jason Momoa will be leaving Aquaman for another role in James Gunn’s new DCU—potentially the villain Lobo.
Blue Beetle is now playing in theaters worldwide.
