Since 1941, comic book movies have become a silver screen staple. Over one hundred comic book movies have been released since The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), ranging from very good to downright horrible. Most of the films have come from either Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) or DC Comics and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). These two production companies have been responsible for about 60% of the comic book adaptations since 1941, even though they were formed in 2008 and 2013 respectively. Basically, the back quarter of comic book film history has been crammed with tons and tons of movies, and it’s expected that consistency is not exactly a top priority with this level of oversaturation.

So far in 2023, we have seen five movies from the MCU (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) and DCEU (Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle), plus one more from Sony (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), technically about a Marvel character. The custody agreement of Spider-Man between the MCU and Sony is a complicated one and leads to some interesting distinctions. So, in nine months, two companies have released five movies and I’ve seen one of them. Many people I know boast similar stories, sticking around for Sony’s take on Miles Morales’ Spider-Man and not much else. I don’t think it’s superhero burnout, for me at least, because I hold out hope every time that the new movie will be worth my time and money. However, the MCU has been widely thought of as declining rapidly since Avengers: Endgame in 2019 and I don’t know if the DCEU has ever been consistently good.

But Blue Beetle might prove me wrong. It was risky, taking a character rarely known by outsiders to the comics world and giving him a spot in the universe. I knew next to nothing about Jaime Reyes, but the movie expected that. It was a near-perfect introduction to the character for me. I appreciated the emotional range of the movie, with some of the most heartfelt (and heart-wrenching) scenes, coupled with jokes that actually made the theater laugh out loud. One of the best things, however, was what really set it apart from other superhero origins.

In Blue Beetle, Reyes’ family was involved in his secret identity from the beginning, being there for his transformation. This cut out a lot of the predictable and more annoying plotlines in many other movies, dancing around the double life, which are always my least favorite parts. I also liked how his family was given a bigger role than usual, actually being major players in the last act. His uncle was a teammate from the get-go and was imperative to Reyes’ success.

It was an easy movie to like, and the beginning of the ending scene was very emotional. After the Reyes family experiences several tragedies, their neighborhood comes together to help them out. I love it when there is a strong community bond, and the characters don’t have to struggle alone.

This movie has given me hope that maybe, just maybe, we can move on from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and enter a new era of good DC movies. I am excited for James Gunn to take the wheel for his Superman movies, because his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy really worked, and he gave us an actually good Suicide Squad movie. With new characters and fresh takes on similar ideas, I think that the DCEU can rival Marvel in the next few years, especially with the trend of Marvel’s less polished ideas and poor VFX effects, despite the gargantuan budgets. But maybe we do need a break from superhero movies, while I don’t see them going away anytime soon.