DCU Blue Beetle: News, Updates & Everything We Know

The latest Blue Beetle movie news and updates suggest promising things for the upcoming DC Universe film, even after a studio shakeup. The old DCEU is being reset in The Flash, but this doesn't seem to have impacted the upcoming Blue Beetle film. While Blue Beetle is not the most recognizable hero on DC’s roster, he’s still been featured in a variety of animated shows and comics. The first Blue Beetle was created for DC Comics by Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski, although the character was later owned by Charlton Comics.

This original iteration of the character first appeared in 1939, but the second Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, found his way to the DC Universe after Crisis on Infinite Earths in the 1980s. DC introduced a new Blue Beetle in the New 52 in the twenty-first century as a teenager, Jaime Reyes, who ended up joining the Teen Titans. Warner Bros. began work on a modern Blue Beetle movie in 2018, with casting running from 2021 into 2022. Several updates about the film’s progress have been released along the way, including several production and casting announcements, and an official trailer released on April 3, 2023. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Blue Beetle movie so far.

The Latest Blue Beetle Movie News

Still the most widely-discussed Blue Beetle movie news, outside its status in the DCU's future, is the casting of Susan Sarandon. It was announced in early 2022 that Sarandon would be playing the villain of the Blue Beetle movie, Victoria Kord, the sister of the first Blue Beetle (Ted Kord). A new trailer released for Blue Beetle on April 3, 2023, details the origin story for Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes, a.k.a. Blue Beetle, and explores his relationship to his family which will be hugely important to the plot of the movie. There has been no word on whether the character will return for James Gunn's new DCU following the release of Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle Movie Release Date

The Blue Beetle movie release date is set for August 18, 2023. This was one of the few movies that DC Studios kept on the slate after James Gunn and Peter Safran took over in late 2022. Blue Beetle is set to premiere following the already-released Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and The Flash on June 16, but Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom will close DC's year with its December 20 release date. However, while Gunn and Safran's plans for DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters have been met well, there are still no guarantees regarding the futures of the last remaining DCEU properties.

Blue Beetle Movie Cast

Among the Blue Beetle movie cast are several of Jaime’s family members and a potential love interest for the hero. Notably, Xolo Maridueña, known for his roles in Cobra Kai (2018-2022) and Parenthood (2012-2015), will play the main hero, Jaime Reyes. Additionally, Belissa Escobedo will portray Jaime’s sister, Milagros Reyes, and Bruna Marquezine will play Jaime’s love interest, Penny. George Lopez will add a familiar name to the cast, playing Jaime's uncle, Rudy. The two signal an important moment in comic book movie history as the first DC live-action movie honoring Latino culture.

They will be joined by Elpidia Carrillo, Damián Alcázar, and Adriana Barraza as Jaime's mother, father, and grandmother, respectively. As far as villains, Raoul Max Trujillo will play Carapax the Indestructible Man. Susan Sarandon plays the villainous character Victoria Kord, replacing the previously cast Sharon Stone. Victoria is a new character created for the film but was just introduced in the comics as Ted Kord's sister. Javier "Harvey" Guillén of What We Do In the Shadows' fame will also appear in Blue Beetle as a character named Dr. Sanchez.

Blue Beetle Movie Story Details

Blue Beetle will introduce the third generation of the character. The first hero was Dan Garrett, who received his powers from an Egyptian scarab. The second chronicled Ted Kord, who existed in the Arrowverse and used science and technology to carry on the hero’s mantle. The third and final Blue Beetle is Jaime Reyes, a teenager from El Paso who discovers the original blue Scarab and receives alien armor when the artifact grafts to his spine. A new trailer for Blue Beetle does uncover more details about the upcoming DC project.

Blue Beetle is set to explore Jaime’s heroic origin story and his conflicts with antagonist Victoria Kord and Blue Beetle villain, Carapax the Indestructible Man. The film's recent trailer confirms that Jaime is not a teenager, but a college graduate, and he returns home to find things have changed for the worse. He is tasked with protecting a box containing the Blue Beetle scarab, as someone nefarious seemingly wants to get their hands on it, but disobeys the advice not to open the box. Jaime becomes bonded with the Blue Beetle armor before the eyes of his family, and his adventure as DC's newest live-action hero begins.

Blue Beetle's Place In The New DCU

While James Gunn didn't have a hand in Blue Beetle's production, he has expressed excited about the upcoming film. He announced that Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom would all still release in 2023, but offered no confirmation that any of these heroes would be featured in future DCU movies. It's possible that Blue Beetle could live in the new DCU's Elseworlds side-franchise, along with Matt Reeves' Batman films and Todd Phillips' Joker franchise. This would unfortunately keep Blue Beetle from interacting with Gunn's new DC heroes, but would still keep the exciting new hero in the franchise.

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