Xolo Mariduena Says Blue Beetle Will Return in James Gunn's DCU: "We Will See Him Soon"

Blue Beetle is scurrying into the new DC Universe. Even before Xolo Maridueña's Jaime Reyes debuted in last summer's penultimate installment of the DC Extended Universe that ended with Aquaman 2, DC Studios co-head James Gunn — who is shepherding the rebooted DCU with Peter Safran — announced that the new canon begins with Creature Commandos and will officially launch with Gunn's Superman: Legacy in 2025. However, Gunn also confirmed that Maridueña's Blue Beetle and "a handful of other characters" would continue on into the DCU (even if Blue Beetle, the movie, would not).

In a new interview at the 2024 Saturn Awards, Maridueña said he's "confident" DC's first Latino superhero to lead their own movie will return in the new DCU.

"I know we'll see Blue Beetle again, whether it comes in the form of Blue Beetle 2 or wherever. It's been really great to work alongside James and Peter, who have graciously folded us into their new universe even though it wasn't part of what they came up with. It's an honor," Maridueña told Screen Rant. "Now, where Blue Beetle heads in the future? I don't know. But I can confidently say that we will see him soon."

Whether or not Blue Beetle is considered canon within the soon-to-be-rebooted DCU, director Angel Manuel Soto previously told ComicBook that the movie — which introduced the young hero as a recent college graduate turned rookie superhero — laid the "foundations" of the character for movie audiences.

"It was very reassuring to know that it's not just the character of Blue Beetle, it's Xolo being Blue Beetle [in the DCU]," Soto said. "Which means that what we have learned up to this point about his background and his family are part of Jaime Reyes' character. And that is a beautiful thing to see. It's a vote of confidence that what we did, the impact that it did and how it was shown, whatever they end up doing in the bigger scheme of the DCU, you can always go back to Blue Beetle to know what are the foundations of Jaime Reyes."

DC's Blue Beetle is now available to stream on Max.