Two of the worst DCU movies are topping the US Top 10 movie chart, and we won’t pretend to know why they’re big hits with viewers now.
Black Adam and Suicide Squad, two relics of the old DCU before James Gunn’s Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters kicks in, have gone down a treat since being added new on Netflix, according to TUDUM.
While on the surface this is a bit perplexing, we have a couple of bets on why these specific DC characters might be raking in views right now, and it has a lot to do with the current state of superhero movies in Hollywood and streaming service habits.
Black Adam was one of the DCEU’s worst performers at the box office. It didn’t lose the studio bucket loads of money, but the Dwayne Johnson movie underperformed against expectations. The high budget, lack of ingenuity in the storytelling, and several years of delays all factored into many people skipping it while it was playing in cinemas.
It was then added to Max, the streaming home of DC films. Max’s numbers aren’t shoddy, particularly after years of investment to try and catch up to the monolithic Netflix, but it has significantly fewer subscribers than the latter. With it now on Netflix, many folks at home are only now getting the opportunity to watch the film at no extra cost.
Getting people into theaters for new movies is getting harder and harder, particularly as superhero fatigue sets in. And while most people didn’t see the value in buying a Black Adam ticket, folks are generally much more likely to take a chance or press play out of morbid curiosity from the comfort of home.
Suicide Squad is a bit harder to explain, being an older release that came out in 2016 to critical lashings. If you remember the build-up to the movie, though, you might see what we see here: the concept of the film is very alluring until the spell is broken by actually watching it.
At the time, people were convinced Suicide Squad was going to be one of DC’s best movies. It had inspired casting — especially Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn — and a trailer that promised a trailblazing fresh take on the superhero movie genre. Just about everyone was excited about it, so despite terrible reviews, it made a boatload of cash.
The idea of it, on the surface, being a great idea still stands. It’s been long enough that some of us might think ‘Was it as bad as I remember?’, while other people might be coming across it for the first time and having the same thought process we DC fans had back in 2016.
Either way, if you’re watching the DC movies in order, these might be two of the hardest to sit through. DC villains turning a new leaf sounds good on paper (and often has been, in comics), but seemingly is a recipe for disaster in live-action and should perhaps be avoided for upcoming DC movies.