Despite opening to dreadful box office numbers, Blue Beetle remains one of the better films in the DCU as of late. Admittedly, the bar has been fairly low. With films like Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Black Adam, DC, has managed to work its way into a difficult position. As James Gunn and Peter Safran work to reignite the fires of the DCU, we find Blue Beetle playing to audiences that have already walked out. It is, after all, leftover from an expired Snyderverse that never drew itself to a close.

James Gunn affirms that The Flash was the narrative beginning of his own new cinematic universe, but won’t see anything come from his reincarnated DC Studios until next year. Despite that, Blue Beetle is sticking around, as James Gunn announced he wanted Xolo Maridueña to play the character in the future. That begs the question: what is Blue Beetle’s role in the new DCU?

Blue Beetle is a legacy character, having two incarnations before the college-aged Jaime Reyes audiences saw in the film, and those other characters will no doubt come into the DCU. Jaime is also a strong collaborator with other DC heroes in the comics. Though he doesn’t have another movie coming up any time soon, we’re likely to see Blue Beetle play a big role with other characters in the new DCU.

Update September 4, 2023: This article has been updated following the release of Blue Beetle and to better reflect what has been revealed about the upcoming DCU slate.

Get Ready to See More of Blue Beetle

Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle
Warner Bros.

Many fans describe the Blue Beetle as kind of a combination between Venom and Spider-Man, mostly because he’s a reluctant hero struggling to control a mysterious force that’s just given him superpowers, and he’s a kid around college age dedicated to protecting his neighborhood. Even more people see Iron Man thrown into that mix for obvious reasons.

Related: 10 DC Characters We Hope Blue Beetle Interacts with in the DCU

Blue Beetle doesn’t have any movies or TV shows planned for James Gunn’s new universe yet. Originally, the plan was for Gunn to start his story as a hard reset after Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but the line gets grayer every day. When Gunn said he would like to see Xolo Maridueña play Blue Beetle in the future, it was clear audiences would see more of him. It would make sense for his character to pop up again, if nothing else just given his role in the comics. Blue Beetle is often involved in teams like the Teen Titans and even the Justice League.

Blue Beetle established that Jaime Reyes exists in a world already populated by superheroes, with references to The Flash, Superman, and Batman mentioned. Jaime Reyes also graduated from Gotham University, and a Lex Corp Tower was shown in the film, hinting at the larger world that Blue Beetle exists in. With the upcoming film Superman: Legacy featuring a wide array of superheroes, Blue Beetle could even show up in that film or in one of the upcoming porjects.

Booster Gold

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle
DC Comics

Booster Gold has a long history in the comics of having an excellent friendship with Blue Beetle. He’s a regular guy from the future who’s come back in time to play at being a superhero with his superior technology. And he and Blue Beetle used to run around together all the time in the comics back when the Blue Beetle mantle was held by Ted Kord.

Though Jaime Reyes is the Blue Beetle currently, the Kord family still plays a big role in his narrative. And during the post-credits scene, the film hinted that Ted Kord – though he had mysteriously disappeared for many years – was actually still alive. It is likely that Ted Kord will be paired up with Booster Gold in the future. And it’s likely to bring our Jaime Reyes into the mix as well.

Green Lantern Mystery

Green Lanterns
DC Comics

The opening titles of Blue Beetle featured a small reference to the character Green Lantern, as a green light knocks the blue scarab off course and onto Earth. In the comics, The Green Lantern Corp has a major conflict with The Reach, the alien species that created the scarab that bound to Jaime. While the alien origin is hinted at in the film, it seems they were saving more development on it for a sequel.

Related: Blue Beetle: Why Did it Take So Long for a Latino Superhero to Arrive?

While a traditional Blue Beetle sequel might be out of the question, the character could still play a role in DC's new plans. Lanterns is a streaming series for MAX that supposedly will focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart Green Lanterns investigating a mystery case on Earth. This might tie into Blue Beetle's origins and tie him into the larger universe. The Reach could be a major threat in Lanterns, and plot points for Blue Beetle's sequel could be brought over into Lanterns. It also might put Jaime into conflict with the Green Lanterns before teaming up, which would make for a great on-screen fight.

Blue Beetle Is The Every Man of the DCU

Xolo Maridueña in Blue Beetle-1
Warner Bros. Pictures

Many of the projects that were announced as part of James Gunn's new DCU plans include characters with very universe-wide implications for the franchise. Superman and Batman are two of the biggest heroes of all time, and characters like The Authority will likely have a global scale to them. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Lanterns will show the cosmic side of the universe, while Creature Commandos and Swamp Thing will show the supernatural.

Blue Beetle is important as he provides an everyman perspective to the events. Jaime Reyes is not an alien from another world or a billionaire superhero. He is just a normal kid from a working-class family. He provides a much-needed perspective for this universe that the average viewer can relate to. He is a kid thrown into a world with larger-than-life conflicts so he can keep the rest of the universe grounded.

That might have been one of the biggest issues with the DCEU. Despite characters like Wonder Woman and Aquaman connecting with audiences, there wasn't really a normal everyday character to provide some perspective on the universe. The closest was Shazam! but the massive gap in between his first and second films didn't give audiences much time to connect with him or see how massive changes to the universe impact him or his family. Hopefully Blue Beetle can provide that for whatever happens in the DCU.