With the announcement of the Blue Beetle film, fans raised one significant, seemingly obvious question. Who is the new DCU superhero? With the recent cancelation of Henry Cavil’s Superman role and the retooling of Wonder Woman 3, it is only reasonable to add a new superhero to the universe. DC has introduced yet another superhero character who continues his lineage of passing it on to others.

While Jamie Reyes, the new successor to Blue Beetle’s mantle, is still a teenager, he has a great personality, having been raised in an average American family and dealing with hardships. However, DC has introduced characters such as Batman, Joker, and Harley Quinn several times through various adaptations. Blue Beetle, despite being one of the most influential characters in DC Comics, is only now making his big-screen debut.

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With all the buzz surrounding this new superhero in the fan communities, it’s only natural that viewers want to learn everything they can about him, especially because he could be the key for the DCU moving forward.

Who is Jaime Reyes?

     DC Comics

Jaime Reyes, one of the three Blue Beetle inheritors along with Dan Garrett and Ted Kord, was a relatively normal high school student with a hardworking father, a paramedic mother, and a bratty little sister. However, things changed in Jaime’s life after Ted Kord seemingly lost the Scarab, which had previously provided powers to Dan Garrett, the first Blue Beetle. Ted loses his Scarab during his visit to the Rock of Eternity and is killed by Maxwell Lord, but the Scarab’s contents are blasted during the battle between Shazam and Spectre.

Jaime stumbles upon the Scarab on his way back from school and brings it home out of curiosity. The Scarab awakens during the night and attaches itself to Jaime’s spine as though yearning to find a new host to continue its existence in the world. From this point forward, his life takes a dramatic turn as the Scarab not only offers him formidable armor but also occasionally takes control of his body.

After a series of run-ins with Batman and other renowned DC heroes and villains, Jaime came to view the Scarab as a godsend that would allow him to protect his city and, with any luck, the world. Blue Beetle’s upcoming film will reportedly explore Jaime Reyes’ origin story to some extent, leaving more to be desired about his future adventures in the DC Universe.

The DCU Could Benefit From His Abilities

Since the Blue Beetle is attached to Jaime’s spine, he may summon it and utilize its powers at will. The suit provides the majority of Blue Beetle’s abilities because it is resilient enough to defend Jaime from lethal attacks. Some of the common functions include an energy cannon, a sword, a shield, and foot-long power blades that can shred the tree trunk into pieces in a second.

Furthermore, depending on the situation, the suit develops a set of wings that allow him to fly and act as shields. Jaime also gains extraordinary sight from the Scarab, allowing him to see extradimensional objects. Several terrifying opponents, such as Darkseid, Doomsday, The Upside Down Man, and Parallax, who have yet to appear in DC films, can literally wreak havoc in the universes, and Blue Beetle can counter many of them with his superpowers.

Fortunately, Jaime has access to weapons that even Spectre, one of DC’s most powerful characters, cannot handle due to the widespread destruction they might cause if used carelessly. Perhaps his abilities will be put to good use if the new rebooted DCU stays faithful to the comics and makes the most of his character in future installments.

Blue Beetle Could be the DCU’s Iron Man

Blue Beetle is a superhero who has appeared as both a solo adventurer and as a member of the DC’s most famed legacy teams, such as the Justice League and the Teen Titans. He previously featured in the Smallville episode “Booster” as a shy and clumsy teenager portrayed by Jaren Brandt Bartlett, as well as in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. This begs the question, how often will we see Blue Beetle in the DCU from here on out, and what impact will he have on the story?

Titans, a gritty retelling of the Teen Titans franchise, has high hopes for Blue Beetle to leave an everlasting impact in the DCU after his premiere film, which is set to be released on August 18, 2023. The show will return from its mid-season break in 2023 and has a slew of opportunities to continue the story by including Blue Beetle and tying the series to the new DCU.

With James Gunn and Peter Safran retooling the entire universe, it’s uncertain how Blue Beetle will affect upcoming movies, but we do know he’d fit right in with the new DC alterations. Blue Beetle, like Marvel’s Iron Man, might serve as an entry point to the new DCU, which would be pleasant news for fans given DC’s failure to follow a pattern of origin stories before introducing Justice League films.

Since it has been announced that previous actors, including Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, and others, would be replaced, adding Blue Beetle would be a fantastic approach to rectify these issues and make the Justice League films even better when they are released in the following years.

In addition to the Justice League and Teen Titans, Jaime Reyes has had encounters with Green Lantern, Peacemaker, and Commissioner Gordon, who appear to have a promising future in James Gunn’s evolving vision of DC. He also confronted Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor and gained the upper hand over the Future Flash. It wouldn’t be surprising if Blue Beetle appeared in the upcoming The Flash film.