There’s plenty in the DCEU slate to be excited about going forward, but when it comes to the potential for some lighthearted, Shazam! style fun, with some diversity to boot, Blue Beetle might just be the right man (teenager) for the job. The diversity is undoubtedly the most important part, but in a DCEU universe filled with much more serious stories, the possibility of a movie about Jaime Reyes, a kinder, more mellow Latinx teenager whose bigger arguments are with the alien technology attached to him, and which grants him his powers, should not be overstated.
The DCEU has, so far, focused on much more established heroes, with Shazam! the most obvious exception, so it stands to reason that Blue Beetle is intended to follow in the footsteps of that superhero than some of the more iconic ones. The personality of the hero also comes into play here, Jaime Reyes is an unlikely choice if the idea is to go for more a serious tone because Jaime is a kid. A nice, funny, laid back, awkward teenager with was is basically a weaponized suit of armor: what could go wrong?
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The film is set to be written by Gareth Dunnet Alcocer and directed by Angel Manuel Soto, a Latinx duo that feels especially important as the foundation to a character that, at this point, is set to represent an entire ethnicity. Currently, there is very little latinx representation in the superhero genre. The DC Extended Universe has featured other Latinx characters, like El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) in Suicide Squad and Rene Montoya in Birds of Prey, but Jaime would be the first Latinx to lead his own film.
One would hope Blue Beetle would just be the first of many, and it’s very reassuring to have a Latinx writer and director tackling a character that the DCEU is probably hoping can be somewhat the answer to the MCU’s version of Peter Parker. Comparisons at this point may not be fair, but they do make it easier to at least picture what the character is supposed to be and what dynamics they are probably going for. Peter Parker is Peter Parker and Jaime Reyes is Jaime Reyes, and they both have their strengths and weaknesses that have nothing to do with each other, but sometimes it’s easier to describe these more obscure characters by comparing them to more famous ones. Hopefully, one day, Jaime can be the point of comparison for other newer superheroes.
Blue Beetle, though not as well-known by the general public, has a long history. The character was created in 1939 by FOX Comics, and different versions appeared in Fox and Charlton Comics series until DC acquired the character in the 80s. Created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner, this version of the character made his first appearance in Infinite Crisis #3 in 2006. Since then, Blue Beetle has been Jaime Reyes, a Mexican-American teenager from El Paso, and that is the version of the character that the upcoming DCEU movie is set to tackle. Jaime is the third Blue Beetle – the immediate successor to Ted Kord, and an expansion on Dan Garrett’s storyline, as well.
Despite the fact that Jaime Reyes’s history as the Blue Beetle spans only fifteen years, and that the character isn’t exactly what might be call mainstream, the movie wouldn’t be his first time appearing in live-action, and he has a history on the animated side on the small screen. Some fans might remember him from Smallville season 10 episode 8, “Booster,” an episode memorably directed by Tom Welling himself, and one in which the actor who played Reyes was notably not Latino.
Jaime has also appeared in Batman: The Brave and the Bold – whose version of Jaime is much more of a flirt than the one in the comics – and most memorably in season 2 of Young Justice, where he had a distinct personality, storyline, and even backstory. The character is also not a stranger to DC-themed video games, where he has shown up in Injustice 2 and Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.
All in all, this adds up to a character primed for a big-time movie. Not well known enough that everyone has made up some opinion about him, not obscure enough that even hardcore fans will be left wondering who he is, and most importantly, the right age, the right personality, and background. Yes, there’s a lot coming for the DCEU but it’s likely that the most interesting movie on their upcoming slate is Blue Beetle, and not enough people have realized yet what the possibilities are.
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