James Gunn Confirmed A Fan-Favorite DCEU Film Is Canon (With A Few Retcons)

Rumors of the old DC Extended Universe's demise may have been slightly exaggerated ... in a way, at least. Once filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran came on board as co-heads of the newly-crowned DC Studios, it became easy to dismiss the entirety of what came before. The "Holy Trinity" of superheroes — Henry Cavill's Superman, Ben Affleck's Batman, and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman — have either been recast or are slated to be. Shows like "Peacemaker" have already introduced major retcons into the mix, rewriting the franchise on the fly to better fit the property's new direction. Heck, even former "Aquaman" star Jason Momoa has already moved on to his next DC role as Lobo in the upcoming movie "Supergirl." But not everything from the previous regime is over and done with just yet.

Apparently, one of the more overlooked entries in the old DCEU could be making a comeback. Remember "Blue Beetle," the charming and small-scale origin story starring Xolo Maridueña as the tech-based Jamie Reyes? While the box office receipts weren't overwhelming, fans gravitated towards the Latino superhero as a pleasant bright spot among the (rather haphazard) post-Zack Snyder blockbusters. Although technically taking place in a wider world full of DC superheroes (and villains), the relatively self-contained story meant that the Blue Beetle resided in his own little corner of the franchise. But as Gunn settles into his revamped DC Universe, is there still room for a return visit with these characters?

"Blue Beetle" fans appear to have reason for optimism. While talking in a recent interview about fitting "Peacemaker" into the ongoing universe, Gunn went out of his way to name-drop a certain superhero who could factor into things in a very similar way. It appears we haven't seen the last retcon bridging the gap between the DCEU and the DCU.

It's James Gunn's DC Universe, and we're just living in it, folks. It pays to be the boss and, well, it sure seems like the director/producer/studio co-head is using his clout to reshape the franchise as he sees fit. While that likely spells the end of the line for certain casting decisions (sorry, Dwayne Johnson, "Black Adam" only changed the hierarchy of power in ways you never could've anticipated), others could receive a second lease on life.

Could "Blue Beetle" make a return from the dead? According to Gunn, it's certainly on the table. While speaking to Rotten Tomatoes in a recent interview tied to "Peacemaker" season 2 (which /Film's Danielle Ryan reviewed here), Gunn dropped the potential news as casually as he could:

"'Peacemaker' was always in a weird place. People say he was part of the DCEU, but he wasn't really. He was a part of this in-between universe of DC when there was nobody really making sure everything was connected and at a time when they were going to rewrite everything with 'The Flash.' We were able to do whatever we wanted [with 'Peacemaker'], and we had that brash [season 1] ending, which I loved. It was one of my favorite things in the whole season, but it just didn't fit in with the DCU. And 'Peacemaker,' there's hardly anything that you need to change for him to slide very easily into the DCU. Same with 'Blue Beetle,' they just fit in very nicely. But maybe we have to retcon a couple of things, but this was the big one."

While this isn't quite confirmation that actor Xolo Maridueña will officially be back as Jamie Reyes, along with original director Angel Manuel Soto, it does feel like good news for a property that obviously held tons of potential — but had the misfortune of being developed and released during a time of extended turmoil over at Warner Bros. Gunn has previously spoken about his overarching plan for the rest of the DCU, so it remains to be seen how (or even if) he'll be able to fit in the continuing adventures of Blue Beetle and his supporting crew at some point down the line. Retcons or not, we have our fingers crossed for this one.