DC fans aren’t convinced ‘Blue Beetle’ proving popular on social media will translate to the box office

DC’s history on the big screen is a bit shaky, but several hits keep the franchise from falling entirely flat.

Despite this, the last several DC releases have largely flopped, even with high budgets and reasonably solid marketing. Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods both left audiences feeling disappointed, and leeched yet more faith from the already-disesteemed franchise. Two films are serving as the hopeful saviors of the unstable DC ship, with fans hanging high hopes on both The Flash and Blue Beetle.

The pair of upcoming films both sport eye-catching and exciting trailers, and they’re pumping viewers up for both releases. A few fans are expressing doubt that the latter film’s enticing trailer will translate to box-office returns, however, which could spell bad news for the still-developing DCU.

A Reddit post celebrating Warner Bros.’ much more appealing approach to marketing Blue Beetle also sports several precautionary warnings from commenters, one of whom aptly noted that “TikTok likes do not equal ticket sales.” The fact that, as the original poster noted, the Blue Beetle trailer “has 1 MILLION likes on TikTok” doesn’t necessarily mean the movie will be a popular addition to DC’s lineup, but it also doesn’t disqualify the film from being a shining success.

The fact of the matter is, the first trailer for Blue Beetle just recently dropped. Hype for the film is currently high, as people bask in the wake of our first look at its characters, story, and impressive costumes, but there’s no saying how the next four months will affect the film’s prospects. Marketing does, in fact, mean far more than releasing a single trailer, but interest in the film is certainly already established. People are delighted at the prospect of DC’s first major Latino hero, and no one is complaining about the franchise actually taking things in a new direction, for once.

In general, favor very much seems to be in Blue Beetle‘s camp. Social media likes are not equivalent to box-office sales, but if interest in the film remains high, the release’s prospects are looking great. So long as the next few months don’t see some massive Ezra Miller-shaped issue arise with the movie, it might even be DC’s most popular 2023 release.