James Gunn Confirms Blue Beetle Will Continue on to New DCU

DC Studios is having a pretty eventful start to their first ever movie slate, and they have been showing no signs of slowing down. Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have been developing a whole slew of projects that will begin with Creature Commandos on television and Superman: Legacy on the big screen. Gunn recently revealed the cast for the former, and it was just announced that David Corenswet has been cast as Clark Kent or Superman in the latter. Earlier today, it was also revealed that Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Mister Terrific will appear in the Superman reboot, with one casting leaving fans to question which actors will remain as their characters in the DC Universe and which actors won’t. Gunn took to Threads earlier today to reveal that only a handful of characters will be moving on to the DCU, including Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle, who had a successful trailer launch earlier today.

Gunn took to Threads earlier today to reveal which characters could be sticking around for his DCU: “Yes. Blue Beetle (played by the wonderful @xolo_mariduena) & a handful of other characters will continue on in the DCU, even though the first DC Studios movie is Superman: Legacy (the first DC Studios project is the animated TV show Creature Commandos).” 

You can check out a screenshot of his recent thread below.

Blue Beetle Director on Film Being Set In the DCU

During a very recent interview, Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto revealed not only that the film is set in the DCU, it’s also part of a planned trilogy.

“We are part of the universe, we are part of the world, we are part of the plans that they have been creating for the future instalments of the DCU,” Soto revealed. “But we are not tied to all the films from the past. Yes, our movie lives in the world where superheroes exist. But that doesn’t mean that a certain event, or certain alliance, or certain things from the past dictate where our film is going.”

“Our first movie, the way we wanted to do it, was always with the mentality that we wanted to do two more, at least,” Soto continued to reveal that there are plans for a Blue Beetle trilogy. “And taking the traditional three-act structure of a story, we wanted our first movie to practically be the first act of a saga.”

What is Blue Beetle’s Synopsis? 

DC Studios describes Blue Beetle as follows. “Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero Blue Beetle.”

The Blue Beetle cast also includes Adriana Barraza (Rambo: Last Blood) as Jaime’s grandmother, Nana; Damían Alcázar (Narcos) as his father, Alberto; Elpidia Carrillo (Mayans M.C.) as his mother, Bianca; Belissa Escobedo (Hocus Pocus 2) as his sister, Milagro; George Lopez (The George Lopez Show) as Jaime’s Uncle Rudy; Bruna Marquezine (God Save the King) as Jenny Kord; Raoul Max Trujillo (Sicario) as the villain Carapax, the indestructible man; Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) as Dr. Sanchez, and Susan Sarandon (Monarch) as Victoria Kord, sister of Ted Kord and CEO of Kord Industries. 

Blue Beetle will hit theaters on August 18th!

What do you think about James Gunn’s comments? Are you excited to see Blue Beetle and the hand full of characters transition over to the DCU? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!