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Jaime Reyes didn’t set out to be a hero. As seen throughout the 2023 movie Blue Beetle, Jaime (Xolo Maridueña) was thrust into the role when a powerful alien scarab ended up in his possession and later bonded with him. Taking the name of Blue Beetle, the superhero identity of missing inventor Ted Kord, Jaime fights against Ted’s weapons-dealing sister Victoria (Susan Sarandon), protecting his family and putting an end to Victoria’s war machines. Yet, since that victory, Blue Beetle has never been seen again.
According to Blue Beetle director Ángel Manuel Soto, the story isn’t over. “I don’t think that chapter has been closed,” Soto told CBR. “I’ve had friendly conversations with [DC Studios co-head] Peter Safran and John Rickard. And I know James [Gunn] is a huge fan of Blue Beetle, and he’s said multiple times that Blue Beetle is part of the DCU.” If that last point is true, then it is more than time for Jaime to suit up again in the universe.
The Rise of the Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle fits particularly well in the new universe that Safran and Gunn have created, because he’s a legacy character with a weird backstory. The character Blue Beetle has been around since 1939, initially created by Charles Wojtkoski as part of the post-Superman superhero boom. The character was reimagined as the superhero identity of inventor Ted Kord in 1966 and then brought into the DC Universe in 1983, where he became a fan favorite as part of Justice League International, especially when paired with Booster Gold.
After Ted was killed in an attempt by DC editorial to drum up excitement for the 2005 company-wide event Infinite Crisis, Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner introduced Jaime Reyes as the new Blue Beetle. Jaime was a hero in the Spider-Man mold, a regular kid who loves his friends and family, and whose new superpowers add extra stress to his life.
Although the 2023 movie transplants Jaime and his family from El Paso, Texas, to Palmera City, Florida, it retains the core elements of the character. Rather than present Jaime as a lone hero who must do his own thing, the film positions him within the context of his family, which includes loving parents Alberto and Rocio (Damián Alcázar and Elpidia Carrillo), sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo), along with his conspiracy-minded Uncle Rudy (George Lopez) and his grandmother (Adriana Barraza).
More than just supporting characters, the Reyes family add weight to Jaime’s mission. Unlike most power fantasies, where the hero grasps the power given to him, Jaime takes time to consider how becoming Blue Beetle will affect them. In fact, it’s only when Victoria and her right-hand man Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) threaten the Reyeses that Jaime fully embraces his role. And when the movie reveals Nana’s past as a Leftist revolutionary and ties Victoria to the real-world School of the Americas, then Jaime’s heroic journey becomes a continuation of his family struggle against oppression.
To his credit, Soto never lets these heady themes weigh down Blue Beetle. Its neon color palette and electronic score by Bobby Krlic infuses the requisite “neophyte discovers his powers” section of the movie with energy. Even better is Maridueña’s likable turn as Jaime, playing both the weight of his character’s plight and the pure delight of a teen who can suddenly fly.
The Search for Blue Beetle
As Soto notes, James Gunn has spoken highly of Blue Beetle. Although it went into production before he and Safran took over, it was released under their leadership, and Gunn took to the press to support it. Moreover, because it released after the events of The Flash, Blue Beetle sort of exists within the DCU.
Gunn, of course, has been dodgy on the details of the new DCU’s relationship to the previous incarnation. As Gunn told Den of Geek when speaking about Peacemaker‘s second season, nothing from the previous incarnation is canon until someone expressly declares it. Blue Beetle hasn’t shown up in any of the official DCU entries—we don’t even see the Golden Age or Silver Age incarnations in the Justice Gang mural from Superman. However, Gunn announced a Blue Beetle movie as part of his Gods and Monsters plans, and where Booster is, Beetle is not far behind.
For Soto’s part, he’s ready to go as soon as he gets the call, even if Jaime doesn’t come back in live action. “We have had conversations of how we can expand the adventures of the Reyes family via animation,” he revealed. “And if that’s something that finally happens, whether it happens or not, conversations have been had. It would be nice. I think that you can do so much with animation, and it’s also a fun medium that I’ve always wanted to explore. So if the movie gods and the people and our dear friends at DC and Warner Bros. see it fit, I would love nothing more than to continue to tell that story.”
That’s one prayer that we’d love the movie gods to answer. Jaime Reyes may not have set out to be a hero, but Blue Beetle proved that he is a hero. And the DCU will be richer with Jaime in it.
Blue Beetle is now streaming on HBO Max.
The post Blue Beetle Deserves to Return in the New DCU appeared first on Den of Geek.
