With the debut of Superman on the big screen, the new DCU under James Gunn is now in full swing. Gunn already gave us an outline of his Gods & Monsters first chapter of the DC universe, and several projects are already in some phase of production that will bring many DC heroes to life. But one that I’ve been most curious about is Blue Beetle.
Blue Beetle will be somewhat unique as the character is one of the few pieces of the previous DC big screen universe that will survive into the new one, as we know that Xolo Maridueña will reprise the role from the movie. For a long time, we didn’t know how that would work, but last month, a Blue Beetle animated series was revealed. ScreenRant recently spoke to Maridueña about bringing his character to life via animation, and the actor was quite excited, saying…
The universe is cracked open. Pandora's Box is open, for lack of a better word! I love the animation medium. I love getting to continue to explore and try my best to fit this character. Having already done Blue Beetle, I know the character and know the voice now. I'm excited to see him in the actual format of animation, and to see what stories we can tell that we can't tell in live-action. Some of my [favorite stories are] Avatar: the Last Airbender, Young Justice, and the Studio Ghibli stuff. I think there's so much that the creatives are pulling from, and I'm excited to see how Blue Beetle fits in.
How the Blue Beetle will fit in is a big question, because we’re still figuring out how the few elements of the old franchise will become part of the new. While actors are moving forward, the stories they were in previously aren’t necessarily canon to the new DCU. This has led to strange situations where the upcoming Peacemaker Season 2 will be part of the DCU. However, not all of Peacemaker Season 1 will be.
We’ll likely need to wait until the new animated series debuts to find out just what parts of the movie are canon, if any. Either way, Xolo Maridueña is seemingly happy to be moving forward with the character, and pleased that so many others are looking forward to seeing what happens next. He continued…
It means the world. I have gotten to, for the past two years since this movie has come out, witness the positive effects of having a character like this live in this grand universe. And I'm even happier that he was the first, and now he's welcomed by so many awesome familiar faces and beautiful, diverse faces. I just hope to continue to push those boundaries and to continue to take risks in those ways.
It’s unclear how far along the series is, so we have no idea when we may actually see it. Hopefully, it won’t be too long, as Xolo Maridueña may not be able to contain his excitement indefinitely.
