For the last 15 years, Jaime Reyes has chiefly held the Blue Beetle mantle in the DC Comics universe, and he’s also been adapted for various TV shows, animated movies and video games. Now the character’s about to get a major popularity boost, as a Blue Beetle movie is in the works for the DC Extended Universe, with Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña bringing Jaime to life. Now we have our first look at the DCEU’s Jaime armored up as Blue Beetle, and it’s all kinds of cool.
Blue Beetle got some time to shine during DC FanDome earlier today, with Xolo Maridueña, director Angel Manuel Soto and writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer spearing to talk about both Jaime Reyes’ comic book history and teasing what’s in store for the upcoming movie. The biggest moment from this portion of the virtual event was being treated to concept art of the DCEU’s Blue Beetle. Take a look!
That’s pretty accurate to Jaime Reyes’ traditional Blue Beetle look, and while it stands to reason the actual costume might not exactly look like what’s shown above, it’s also clear they don’t intend to take any drastic creative liberties with it. The Kord Industries logo in the background is a nice touch, as Ted Kord was the previous Blue Beetle. That said, it’s unclear if Ted will have a role in the Blue Beetle movie. On the one hand, it’s be nice to see Ted factor into his origin story somehow (even if he’s never been Blue Beetle in the DCEU), but it also wouldn’t be difficult to show the beginning of Jaime’s superhero journey without Ted’s involvement.
Regardless, with Blue Beetle having already collected a lot of fans across comics and animated media, the time has come for him to shine in a cinematic setting. This will be the second time the character has been depicted in live-action, with Jaren Brandt Bartlett having played him in an episode of Smallville. Needless to say, though, that the Blue Beetle movie will find its way in front of a lot more eyes.
It was first reported that a Blue Beetle movie was in development back in November 2018, and by this past February, it was announced that Charm City Kings’ Angel Manuel Soto had come aboard to direct. Xolo Maridueña’s involvement was revealed back in August, and with production expected to begin in early 2022, no doubt we’ll learn who else is joining him in the cast before the year is over. Like the Batgirl movie, Blue Beetle will be an HBO Max exclusive offering.
Blue Beetle doesn’t have a release date yet, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for that information and other updates on its progress. Browse through our upcoming DC comics movies guide to learn what else is coming down the DCEU pipeline.
