THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BLUE BEETLE IN THE NEW CINEMATIC DCU
DC Studios' creative head JAMES GUNN has officially brought this summer's next DC superhero movie into his all-new cinematic DC Universe, and that's saying a lot of BLUE BEETLE, a production that was meant to be limited in its scope and never to see theatrical distribution, going first instead to HBO Max. First announced in late 2018, the movie began and completed filming in 2022. Featuring 22-year old actor and Cobra Kai alum Xolo Maridueña as JAIME REYES, Blue Beetle was slated to be the 14th film in the late DCEU, placing it in continuity with the stories and characters developed by director Zack Snyder.
That's no longer the case, as Snyder's continuity no longer exists. Becoming a genuine part of the forthcoming all-new DCU gives Blue Beetle and its titular character a true future, and that's significant in more than the obvious ways. Blue Beetle is a legacy character; Jaime Reyes is the third to carry that mantle, and the second to utilize the powers of the alien-tech SCARAB featured in the film. The idea and concept of "LEGACY" is perhaps the most central theme of DC's comics, and it will feature just as heavily as the core of DC Studio's shared universe.
The teaser following Blue Beetle's credits gives further credence to that assertion, when the voice of the long-lost TED KORD, Jaime Reyes' predecessor, can be heard on the radio. While not the original Blue Beetle in publication history, Kord is DC's first Blue Beetle, and this scene gives future films the option to introduce him into the live-action DCU.
Originally published by Charlton Comics, Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) was a hero of the late Silver Age, created in 1966 by the infamous Steve Ditko, who co-created Spider-Man with Stan Lee just four years earlier at Marvel Comics. He made his First Appearance in Charlton's Captain Atom #86 (1966), and was crafted to be a more light-hearted and humorous character than the Golden Age Blue Beetle, a more stoic hero who gained his powers from the Blue Beetle scarab. Kord, however, wasn't able to inherit these powers from his predecessor, and so used technology and acrobatic skills to fight crime when he carried on the legacy.
It was a short-lived legacy, however, as Charlton Comics closed up shop not long after Kord's introduction. The company and its intellectual properties were purchased by DC Comics in the early 1980's, and through their Crisis On Infinite Earths maxi-series in 1985, Charlton's main heroes -- Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Peacemaker, Nightshade and The Question - were absorbed into DC continuity.
Ted Kord's Blue Beetle was the first of those former Charlton heroes to score his own series in the post-Crisis DCU, and Len Wein's Blue Beetle launched in 1986. The premiere issue also introduced two new villains, FIREFIST and CARAPAX, the latter most recently being one of the live-action film's central antagonists. But despite the many trappings of the second Blue Beetle that figured prominently in the 2023 film, it's Ted Kord's iconic and long-standing friendship with BOOSTER GOLD, a hero that also debuted at DC in the late 1980's and one already confirmed for a future live-action streaming series or film, that serves as his best chance to appear in James Gunn's new DCU.
- Following his First Appearance as his non-powered self in Blue Beetle #1 (1986), CONRAD CARAPAX returns exactly one year later in his FIRST APPEARANCE as CARAPAX, THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN in Blue Beetle #13 (1987). Don't miss adding a High-Grade DC Cinematic Universe key to your comic book collection! Give it what it deserves... today!
BLUE BEETLE #13-A
(VOL. 6, JUN 1987)
First Appearance: Indestructible Man (Conrad Carapax)
Paris Cullins Regular Art Cover
Direct Sales Edition
First Printing