DC's Blue Beetle Movie Looks Like It Came Straight From The '90s And We Say Bring It On
As with many superheroes, Blue Beetle has a long and varied publishing history. The original version of the character first appeared in the pages of Fox Comics' "Mystery Men Comics" #1 way back in August of 1939, around the same time Superman and Batman were just gaining traction. That version of Blue Beetle gained superpowers by consuming special vitamin tablets. A second version of Blue Beetle was folded into DC Comics during its notorious Crisis on Infinite Earths event — Blue Beetle 2.0 was more like Iron Man, using technology and a super-powered suit to fight crime.
The most recent version of Blue Beetle — the version that inspired the character in Angel Manuel Soto's upcoming feature film — is a teenager named Jaime Reyes who chances into the possession of a mystical scarab that attaches to his body and grants him a "living" costume that adapts to protect him. Like Venom, the costume emerges from his body and surrounds him in stressful situations, covering his face and giving him superpowers. He can grow swords out of his hands, fly, and cut buses in half with his mind. Also like Venom, Blue Beetle (played by Xolo Maridueña) appears to be living in a cinematic superhero landscape that peaked somewhere around 1998. Judging only by the new "Blue Beetle" trailer, the film is selling itself on its simplicity rather than its connection to other superhero flicks. This is a good thing.
Batman's a fascist
One needs only compare the preview of "Blue Beetle" to the preview of the upcoming film, "The Flash," to understand. "The Flash" contains parallel versions of the title character, some Super supporting players, and the return of Michael Keaton as Batman. Pulling from the "broad interconnected universe" milieu of the Snyderverse, "The Flash" aims to elicit thrills based on its inclusion of multiple characters from across the DC Extended Universe and beyond. This has also been the (rather lucrative) approach of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well. One can enjoy any individual film in the MCU on its own merits, I suppose, but it was the promise of team-ups and forthcoming mega-battles that kept the franchise's fans happy for so long.
After 15 years of market dominance, it seems that the "broad interconnected universe" approach has lost some of its luster. The MCU has had a few disappointments in a row, and Warner Bros. Discovery is rebooting the DCEU. Indeed, "Blue Beetle" will be one of the final films in the superhero continuity that began with "Man of Steel" in 2013. From the look of it, however, "Blue Beetle" is not trying to wrap up any major threads or even make reference to the DCEU at all. Indeed, at the end of the "Blue Beetle" trailer, a character only refers to Batman to call him a fascist, a sentiment that echoes others' criticism of Batman as a symbol for cinematic "copaganda."
"Blue Beetle," instead, is bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and content to revel in small stakes, bright colors, and an innocent hero baffled by the world of superherodom.
To the Beetlemobile!
There is a silly element to "Blue Beetle" that the filmmakers appear to be rolling with. With a silly name like Blue Beetle, this may be the wisest approach. I understand that the beetle in question is, in fact, an ancient mystical/high-tech scarab, but the hero in question has chosen a less intimidating name, one he shares with a Volkswagen. That fact alone pushes the presumed tone of "Blue Beetle" into something adolescent and fun. Remember when superhero movies were fun? I do too.
Blue Beetle's large outside flying bug vehicle — merely called The Bug in the comics — is a good sign for the film. It is an image reminiscent of Saturday Morning cartoons, or perhaps half-forgotten mid-budget 1990s superhero TV fare like "M.A.N.T.I.S." "Blue Beetle" appears to owe a great deal to "M.A.N.T.I.S."
A lot of the superhero films of the 1990s skewed toward broody Goth darkness (see: "Blade," "The Crow," "Spawn," Tim Burton's "Batman" movies), but just as many wanted to have fun with their fantastical origins; films like "The Shadow," "The Phantom," "Dick Tracy," "Tank Girl," "Mystery Men," and Joel Schumacher's "Batman" movies. Not all of those films are good, necessarily, but for a certain generation, they were colorful, whimsical lifeblood. It's telling that "Blue Beetle" director Angel Manuel Soto was born in 1983. He's just the right age to have seen the above films as a child.
The trailer also focuses on the Beetle's discovery of his powers and not the conspiracy he'll become involved in. Yes, there will be a story, but in a superhero origin movie, the story is but the clothesline on which to hang superhero antics. I say: Bring on the antics. The DCEU is dead. Let's have a little fun before we let it go.