DC Extended Universe has never been able to keep a solid, unanimous track. The franchise’s plans have undergone numerous changes, firstly due to poor creative decisions after Batman v. Superman and then twice due to management shifts. Most recently, the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger resulted in the new executives canceling a major DCEU project and changing strategies for HBO Max.

While Batgirl’s cancelation adds to severe confusion about the franchise’s future, The Hollywood Reporter, in an insider piece, suggests that Blue Beetle is still moving forward. The movie will release in 2023, after The Flash. Earlier, Blue Beetle was supposed to follow Batgirl in the continuity. Like the latter, the film was supposed to be an HBO Max original but was later promoted for a theatrical release.
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Blue Beetle is one of the most exciting projects on the DCEU slate. It is the only fresh origin story in the slate that features a new character, thus expanding the franchise’s narrative beyond the Justice League. The film stars Cobra Kai fame Xolo Maridueña, whose first look in the costume has been widely appreciated. At DC Fandome2021, director Angel Manuel Soto shared the first concept art of the film and gave the first insight into the film’s story.

Blue Beetle follows Jamie Reyes, played by Maridueña, who gets grafted to an alien scarab, ‘Blue Beetle,’ granting him superpowers with an armored exosuit. Jamie’s first appearance was in Infinite Crisis #3 (2006) and later turned into the titular superhero in Infinite Crisis #5. The character has also been affiliated with Batman in the comics, raising possibilities of the film getting connections to the DCEU’s Bruce Wayne.

Blue Beetle Brings In a Vast Cast

Blue Beetle also stars an ensemble including Bruna Marquezine, George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Elpidia Carrillo, and Damián Alcázar. Raoul Trujillo plays Carapax the Indestructible Man while Susan Sarandon plays the antagonist Victoria Kord. The film had earlier signed Sharon Stone as Kord before.

In an interview earlier, the lead actor Xolo Maridueña had described the movie as a stepping stone in his life. He told Variety,

I’ve gotten the chance to build chemistry with these people over the years on Cobra Kai. To try to recreate that chemistry in a much shorter amount of time is gonna be difficult, but all of these guys are professionals. I know that I’m in the hands of people who are the best at what they do. The opportunity at Cobra Kai has really blessed me; I can do stunts, we can do crazy stuff. Adding this new level of green screen and suits and CGI and all of this will add a whole new crazy level to it that I’m so excited for.

Blue Beetle is still in production, and several details are still under wraps. But it’s good news that it still is in active development and has not been affected by the recent shake-up in the franchise’s plans. Given that Blue Beetle would be the first film after The Flash’s rewrite of the timeline, it would play an essential role in Warner Bros.’s new 10-year plan focusing on the DC Multiverse, making it a crucial installment of the DC Extended Universe.

Blue Beetle will release on Aug. 18, 2023.