Fate seems to intertwine the positive reception of Blue Beetle with James Gunn, a former prolific Marvel director and current executive at DC Studios, in surprising ways. The latest example can be found in a head-to-head comparison between Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the Angel Manuel Soto-directed film.
You see, Blue Beetle has the distinct honor of being one of the highest-rated live-action superhero movies of the year on Rotten Tomatoes, second only to Guardians 3. Blue Beetle’s “Certified Fresh” rating of 79 percent also represents the first DC film to receive that special designation since 2022’s The Batman. Gunn’s Guardians 3, which is also Certified Fresh, boasts an 81 percent by comparison. However, neither Disney nor Warner Bros. ultimately topped the all-time highest superhero movie scores this year.
If you include animated films, Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse actually trumps both of the previously mentioned movies with its Certified Fresh 95 percent score. With that said, the unexpected critical smash Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount) is what actually tops the list of all-time superhero movies in 2023, with a Certified Fresh 97 percent.
Interestingly enough, Blue Beetle also has a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than six of the last seven DC films, in general, with the sole exception being Gunn’s 2021 sequel The Suicide Squad. It just goes to show that these comparisons between Blue Beetle with Gunn’s movies are not to disparage the Xolo Maridueña-starring film, but rather to point out how it is in good company.
Blue Beetle drops at a theater near you tomorrow; Friday Aug. 18.
