With The Flash having failed to deliver a fresh start for the
cinematic DC Universe, will the upcoming Blue Beetle be the movie to reboot
the DCU?
With the DC Universe on the verge of a total reset
starting with Superman: Legacy, and canon confusion around Blue Beetle, will
the upcoming stand-alone actually reboot the DCU? Comments from DC Studios
co-CEO James Gunn have indicated the film will play a major role in his
plans for reshaping the setting. However, it is unclear if the movie will
bring about the new beginning that had been presumed to be coming through
The Flash movie.
Despite having a legacy dating back to 1939, Blue Beetle
remains relatively obscure to mainstream audiences. The upcoming DC Studios
movie centers around the third incarnation of the Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes, a
Texas teenager who accidentally became bonded to a strange scarab-shaped
artifact that gave him an armored suit and the ability to create nearly any
weapon he can imagine. While Jaime is one of the most popular new characters
to come out of DC Comics in modern times and worthy of a solo film, it
remains to be seen if his story will reboot the DC Universe.
The Flash Didn't Reset The DC Universe As Many Expected
It was presumed that The Flash movie would reboot the DC
Universe and offer the setting a fresh start. This assumption was based on
two key factors. First, that The Flash movie was loosely based on beloved
comic book storyline Flashpoint, which set up a similar reboot of the DC
comic book universe in 2011. The other factor was changes in the management
of DC Studios, which led to a new ten-year plan that would place most of DC
Studios' productions in a single shared universe, while still allowing for
Elseworlds set outside the new DCU, like the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux
and The Batman: Part II.
However, while The Flash movie may have
been planned to reboot the DC Universe at one time, with Michael Keaton
replacing Ben Affleck and shooting scenes for later DCU movies, those plans
were changed at some point. Reshoots for The Flash started long before James
Gunn and fellow co-CEO Peter Safran took over the management of DC Studios.
Despite this, both directors haven been erroneously blamed for The Flash's
erratic story and its failure to set the stage for a new DCU.
James Gun Called Blue Beetle The First DC Universe Character
Recent comments by James Gunn have further confused the
question of how the new DCU will be established and if Blue Beetle is a part
of it. While chatting on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Gunn
described Blue Beetle as "the first DCU character" while simultaneously
saying this his upcoming Superman: Legacy movie will be the first DCU movie.
This conflicted with earlier statements Gunn had made, when unveiling his
plans for Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, in which he said that Blue Beetle
would be "totally disconnected" from the new DCU, while adding that it was
possible for Blue Beetle to join the DCU.
Blue Beetle Is Unlikely To Reboot The DC Universe
While Gunn's comments seem contradictory on the surface, they
make sense when applied to the general blueprint of the new DCU. Rather than
trying to directly link every upcoming DC Studios production together
through cameos and continuity, Gunn and Safran appear to be taking a more
holistic approach, building the new DCU around shared themes. This would
theoretically allow the individual artists and directors more creative
freedom, as they explore different sides of the same setting. This makes
sense given the variety of the DC comic book universe, which features horror
stories like Swamp Thing and space opera sci-fi like Green Lantern, along
with traditional superheroes.
Given that, it makes sense that Blue Beetle, whose solo movie
was designed to stand apart from the main DCU, could be seen as the first
character born of the new DC Studios' ethos. Without the baggage of the old
DCEU tying it down, Blue Beetle is free to be its own thing and not have to
worry about conforming to an established aesthetic. Ironically, this would
make it easier to fold into the new DCU if it proves to be popular, although
it could easily stand on its own as an Elseworlds franchise, like Matt
Reeves' The Batman movies and the upcoming tie-in television series.
Whether it remains an Elseworlds or is retroactively added into
the DCU, Blue Beetle will be an important film for DC Studios. While its
story may not provide the anticipated hard reboot of the DCU so many
expected, it will provide a litmus test for the viability of independent
superhero movies. With some audiences growing fatigued with superhero movies
that require them to be intimately familiar with every aspect of a shared
universe, Blue Beetle could offer something unique and enjoyable that casual
audiences could enjoy. It may not reboot the DCU, but Blue Beetle could give
DC Studios a spiritual rebirth.
