Trivia / Blue Beetle (2023)

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $104-120 million. Box office, $72 million (domestic), $129 million (worldwide). While it got the best reviews for a DCEU movie since The Suicide Squad, the circumstances around its release were dire; the advertising was limited to two trailers and a few TV spots, it was releasing towards the end of August, it was yet another leftover of the DCEU that audiences knew that the upcoming reboot would render pointless (though James Gunn intends to put the character in his new universe, and with the same actor too), the SAG-AFTRA strikes going on at the time prevented the cast from promoting the film themselves, and most general audiences had lost faith in the DC brand after the DCEU’s string of flops, especially after the monumental flop of The Flash barely two months prior. Couple that with many audiences experiencing genre fatigue (and for those who weren't, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem provided stiff competition); the fact that even its comparatively-decent reception still painted it as a So Okay, It's Average Cliché Storm; and key markets the film was targeting being impacted by Tropical Storm Hilary. This resulted in Blue Beetle losing out even to SHAZAM! Fury of the Gods, becoming the lowest grossing film in the franchise (though it actually made more money domestically).
• Channel Hop: The film was initially scheduled to be a streaming exclusive on HBO Max, but the heads of Warner Bros. Discovery (which was created after production on the film had wrapped up) deemed it worthy of a theatrical release (unlike the less lucky Batgirl film of Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, which got outright cancelled despite being nearly completed).
• Direct to Video: The Japanese and South Korean releases will go direct-to-video due to a lack of interest in those countries, and previous DC Extended Universe films flopping.
• Divorced Installment: It was originally meant to be set in the DC Extended Universe before it was supposedly decided to set it in James Gunn's Continuity Reboot Shared Universe... then Gunn said it wasn't, though Xolo Maridueña is planned to return as Jaime in the new shared universe. So this probably means it's DCEU by default.
• Executive Meddling: A positive example: Ángel Manuel Soto revealed that the original plan was for “nobody” to die, but the studio was adamant that the movie include "an emotional death" in order to make things personal for Jaime. He was glad when he killed Alberto off so not only for Jaime to embrace his role as a superhero but provided Soto with an opportunity to explore Latin American culture as it relates to death and spirituality, as father and son share a moment in their version of the afterlife.
• Fan Community Nicknames: The "Blue Beetle Battalion", a fan movement hyping up the film on social media (though many also use it as hashtag to simply lambast the film's Invisible Advertising).
• Irony as She Is Cast: Susan Sarandon is well-known for being an anti-war activist and opposing the very same military-industrial complex that her character personifies.
• Meme Acknowledgement: Before going off to join the SAG-AFTRA strike, Xolo Maridueña sent out a message of approval for the #BlueBeetleBattalion meme, which is basically the fans doing the promoting in the cast's stead while they picket anyways.
• No Export for You: Unlike other DCEU films, this one will skip its theatrical release in China, Japan and South Korea, probably due to the failures from previous films, and lack of interest in those countries.^note For Japanese viewers, this is especially more relevant, since this is the first mainstream live-action film featuring a DC Comics character in decades not being released in Japan. That said, it will eventually get a Direct to Video release in those countries.
• Uncredited Role: Whoever voices Ted Kord in The Stinger has not been identified. It's speculated to be Jason Sudeikis, who the director has cited as his preferred choice for the character, but this has not been confirmed.
• Underage Casting: Adriana Barraza, who plays Jaime's grandmother Nana, is actually three years younger than Damián Alcázar, who plays her son, Jaime's dad.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Sharon Stone was initially approached for the role of Victoria Kord before Susan Sarandon was cast.
  • Gabriel Iglesias and John Leguizamo were considered for the part of Rudy Reyes before the casting of George Lopez.
  • The film was initially set in DC Extended Universe before it was reportedly changed to set in the new continuity of the DCU, though it is not a part of James Gunn and Peter Safran's forthcoming new slate of films titled Chapter One: Gods and Monsters as of now. Then reportedly they went back on it and it's DCEU again, though Gunn has stated numerous times since that he intends to have Maridueña reprise his role as Jaime in the DCU.

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