Origins: Who is DC’s Blue Beetle?
From Hugh
On August 18th, Blue Beetle finally hits the big screen as the first character to launch the beginnings of the new DC cinematic universe. The character has appeared numerous times across comics, tv shows and video games but he has never had a theatrical debut before. But who is the Blue Beetle? Why is he potentially important for the future of the new DCU? Find out more below!
Origin
As with most comic book characters there are multiple origins, identities, incarnations and adaptations of certain characters across comics and various media. Blue Beetle has had several incarnations with three of them being the most popular being Dan Garret, Ted Kord & Jaime Reyes. For this overview we are going to focus on Jaime Reyes who is the chosen incarnation the film is based on. In comics, Jaime lives in El Paso, Texas, US as the son of Alberto Reyes and Bianca Reyes and has a sister named Milagro Reyes. Jaime has an acute sense of responsibility for his immediate family and various friends, though he complains about having to sort out their various problems. He derives strength and courage from his family's support, wanting what's best for them even though they want what is best for him. Everything changed for him when he came across the Blue Beetle Scarab, a sentient alien artifact that turns its chosen host into the Blue Beetle and capable of giving its host a vast array of powers. The Scarab was first found by archaeologist Dan Garrett who became the first Blue Beetle before passing it on to his pupil Ted Kord who then became the second Blue Beetle. The Scarab had been presumed destroyed early in Ted's superhero career, but it was discovered intact in a pyramid in the Middle East. Ted lost the Scarab when he was on a visit to the Rock of Eternity, home of the wizard Shazam, before being killed by a supervillain sometime after. The Rock of Eternity was later destroyed in a mystical battle between Shazam and the Spectre, resulting in its contents being blasted across the world including the Scarab. The Scarab lands in El Paso where Jaime discovers it on the way home from school with his friends, Paco and Brenda, half-buried in a disused lot. He took it home, curious as to what it might be. That night, the Scarab came alive, and grafted itself to the base of Jaime's spine, inducing strange dreams in Jaime. Upon waking up he discovers that he has become the Scarab’s host and becomes the new Blue Beetle inheriting all the previous abilities of the other Blue Beetle hosts but also gains entirely new ones. He learns about his abilities when he gets into trouble with a local gang of magic meta-humans called the Posse, that attempted to recruit him but the scarab defended Jaime and itself besting all of them. This results in him being reluctantly recruited by select members of the Justice League to take upon a dangerous mission that only he could help stop due to his possession of the scarab.
The mission results in Jaime getting separated from his family and friends for one whole year and upon returning to El Paso he finds many things had changed. His father had been crippled, forcing him to walk with a cane, Paco had teamed up with the Posse, and Brenda had been taken in by her aunt after her abusive father died in a DUI. He revealed his identity as the Blue Beetle to both his family and his two friends; while his father and friends were understanding, his mother became suspicious and disbelieving that he was really Jaime, and his sister Milagro became terrified of him. It wasn't until Jaime returned to the scene of his arrival and recalled the memories of what had happened that the two finally reconnected with and accepted him. Jaime's attempts to learn more about the Scarab led him to the Posse - and involved him in their conflict with El Paso's resident crime lord, La Dama, as she sought to bring the magical meta-humans of El Paso under her control. The conflict would end up in a truce despite a fierce battle and this made Jaime truly a hero to the eyes of many. Jaime initially believed the Scarab was a mystical artifact, up until he met Peacemaker who revealed that it was a piece of extraterrestrial technology. Jaime's search for more information took him back to where he had crash landed in the desert, in an attempt to find out about his missing year. He then headed out on Dan Garrett's trail, looking to find out what the first Blue Beetle had known about the Scarab.
The current Dan Garret was the original Blue Beetle's granddaughter and claimed she had the right of the scarab, but since it was stuck to Jaime's spine she let it go. However, it was Jaime's investigation into a cattle mutilation outside El Paso that would provide his biggest lead on the Scarab. His confrontation with the monstrous creation responsible led him to the Reach, the alien civilization who had created the Scarab and left it on Earth. Jaime discovered that the Reach were galactic conquerors, who planned to add Earth to their list of conquests. Initially, the Scarab had been programmed to be obedient to the Reach, and to subordinate its host's will to them as well. The Reach had intended to present the Scarab's host as Earth's protector, before moving to establish their influence over the planet. However, during the centuries the Scarab had spent on Earth, it had been infused with magic, the magical "corruption" preventing the Reach from controlling it. With Jaime's assistance, it had started to develop free will and independence, overriding the Reach's deepest programming. Nevertheless, the Reach still intended to take over the planet, even without the Scarab to help them. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, the Reach were peaceful "galactic traders." Their secret bases and technology were hidden away, out of phase with the rest of the world, and Jaime was the only one who could see them. Seeing Jaime and the Scarab as the biggest threat to their plans, the Reach attempted to eliminate them through the use of deniable agents, including Earth's supervillains. Jaime, meanwhile, tried to find out what the Reach were up to, and how he could stop them.
Through various conflicts and some assistance from other heroes Jaime and the Scarab managed to uncover the Reach's scheme and destroy it, but also ended up destroying any evidence of the scheme. By this point, the Scarab had become an independent, free-willed entity in its own right, naming itself Khaji Da. Together, Jaime and the Scarab devised a plan to bring the Reach down before they tried conquering Earth again. Jaime allowed himself to be captured by the Reach, giving the Scarab the chance to hack into the Reach's computers and broadcast their invasion plans worldwide. The Reach's Negotiator, driven to breaking point, ordered Earth's destruction - but again, Jaime and the Scarab intervened, stopping the world-rippers before they could be activated. The Reach were forced to withdraw, claiming that the Negotiator had "gone rogue” leaving Jaime and the Scarab victorious. Jaime’s heroic actions earned him a place amongst several superhero groups with the most notable of them being the Teen Titans.
Powers & Weaknesses
Jaime’s powers all come from the Scarab that is bonded to his spine. This symbiosis gives Jaime access to the Scarab's powers whenever he chooses. The Scarab can, and will, use its powers of its own accord; Jaime, however, can override the Scarab if need be. Should Jaime fall prey to a mind-altering power, the Scarab will take control of the armor. The many abilities and powers the Scarab can give to him include super strength, super agility, flight, superhuman durability, metamorphosis, cyberkinesis as well as a vast array of weaponry and technology that can be summoned based on Jaime’s imagination. This makes Jaime one of the most powerful beings on Earth as a result of the Scarab but there are weaknesses that he has because mostly due to the Scarab’s aforementioned sentience. The Scarab's sentience is distinctly alien; while it won't hurt nature, it has shown no such reluctance when it comes to humans or other beings, being willing to injure or kill them. Fortunately, Jaime has so far prevented it from killing anyone but there have been occasions where he couldn’t control it. For example, the Scarab sees the Green Lantern Corps as the 'enemy'. In Jaime's first few days as the Beetle, the Scarab did everything in its power to get him away from the Lanterns - up to and including shifting him outside the universe. As Jaime's experience with the Scarab's armor has developed, the Scarab has taken a more aggressive approach against the Lanterns, urging Jaime to kill them. The Green Lantern rings, for their part, fear the Scarab, responding in different ways depending on their wielders. The Scarab's armor can be breached by the weapons of other Scarabs. Equally, however, the Scarab is able to breach other Scarabs' armor. Originally, the Scarab was unable to attack the Reach and their technology. Jaime overrode the Scarab's programming, 'reprogramming' it so that it was able to fight the Reach. While the Scarab is aware of magic, it doesn't understand it. It's able to perceive, absorb, and disrupt magical energies, but little else. As a result, creatures of magic are often a significant challenge. The Scarab can't analyze certain mythical creatures, and so is unable to develop countermeasures for them. When faced with certain other mystical entities, such as the Spectre, the Scarab panics, offering Jaime ever more powerful weapons to take them on.
What to expect?
The Blue Beetle film appears to be majorly adapting nearly all elements of Jaime’s comic origins with several notable changes. For starters Jaime’s home in the film is the fictional Palmera City instead of El Paso, Texas like in the comics. Jaime also acquires the Scarab differently from comics by having it given to him by Jenny Kord, the daughter of Ted Kord, who was the Blue Beetle host before Jaime. And as shown in the trailers Jaime’s family will already be aware of his identity as Blue Beetle from the start rather than discovering it later like in comics. This is likely a creative choice to put a new spin on the traditional superhero origin and have the family have a larger role in his journey. It has also been established so far that the Blue Beetle mantle has existed prior to Jaime acquiring it and that Ted Kord was in possession of it before suddenly disappearing. In Ted Kord’s absence certain individuals are now seeking the Scarab for themselves including Ted’s sister Victoria Kord, who is highly implied to be the main villain of the film who will do anything to get the Scarab including recruiting an armored supervillain known as Conrad Carapax who was a major villain of Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle in comics. How the story will proceed exactly is still largely under wraps but it’s clear that this film is mixing in a lot of elements of the Blue Beetle mythos from comics while also telling its own self contained story that doesn’t involve major appearances from other superheroes.
Personally I think this is an excellent direction to go especially for introducing a new hero that will likely be the first to have a future in the new and rebooted DCU. Where the characters will go exactly depends entirely on the events of the film but based on what has been shown so far for the DCU’s future slate there are plenty of opportunities for Jaime’s Blue Beetle to return with one of them including a future team up with Booster Gold. Blue Beetle & Booster Gold were an iconic and extremely popular superhero duo that spanned across years in comics. Booster Gold has worked with all three of the main Blue Beetles including Jaime and with Booster Good set to have his own series in the DCU it is highly possible we could see the iconic duo work together on the big screen. There are endless possibilities of where this character could go provided that there is a solid future for this character after this film.
Blue Beetle hits theaters on August 18th, 2023.
