Blue Beetle Appreciation!!

[Robotman]

Turns out the screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer was actually born in Mexico. Pretty cool. I wonder if they’ll try to get a Hispanic director to helm the project.

The fact that Jaime’s family not only knows he’s the Blue Beetle but has actually helped him on his adventures could make a BB movie kinda unique. He’s not the only hero in that situation but the concept isn’t one you see a lot in superhero movies or tv shows. So I really hope they include that facet of the character. Hell, they could bring in Edward James Olmos or Danny Trejo as Jaime’s badass grandpa.

I just hope they don’t make Jaime speak like a cholo stereotype and call people “ese”, “hermano”, or “vato”. Looking at you Young Justice.

[liwanag]

I really hope that Ted plays some kinda role in the story.

same here. but i hope ted is NOT portrayed as someone old or tech support who is physically incapable of doing his own heroics.

[Güicho]

That's actually perfect casting! Xolo just looks like Jaime brought to life and John would kill it as Ted. As for Dan, either choice works imo.

same here. but i hope ted is NOT portrayed as someone old or tech support who is physically incapable of doing his own heroics.

Any wondering about Krasinski fitness or acting chops check him as Jack Ryan
He can be the Ted Kord the tech guy, and Ted Kord the action hero and Ted Kord the Buahahah! guy for the eventual Blue and Gold Booster team-up!

I really hope they include that facet of the character. Hell, they could bring in Edward James Olmos or Danny Trejo as Jaime’s badass grandpa.

I would love to see that.

I just hope they don’t make Jaime speak like a cholo stereotype and call people “ese”, “hermano”, or “vato”. Looking at you Young Justice.

LOL please No! I totally agree with you.

[El_Gato]

Wow that is some spot on casting! Can't wait to see all the fan castings that'll pop up now. The fact that this project has both a writer and producer attached means that it actually stands a chance of being made! I remember Daniel and KC Walsh (both have inside sources) said WB was really intent on making a Blue Beetle film and someone pitched them a story inspired by SM: Homecoming, which they really liked. Good to see that come true!

Paco, Brenda, and Jaime's parents are must haves! I'd also like Traci 13, Dan Garrett and Ted Kord to appear too. As for villains, The Reach, Black Beetle, La Dama, and Short-Timer seem to be his biggest foes, so either works.

[Robotman]

Wow that is some spot on casting! Can't wait to see all the fan castings that'll pop up now. The fact that this project has both a writer and producer attached means that it actually stands a chance of being made! I remember Daniel and KC Walsh (both have inside sources) said WB was really intent on making a Blue Beetle film and someone pitched them a story inspired by SM: Homecoming, which they really liked. Good to see that come true!

Paco, Brenda, and Jaime's parents are must haves! I'd also like Traci 13, Dan Garrett and Ted Kord to appear too. As for villains, The Reach, Black Beetle, La Dama, and Short-Timer seem to be his biggest foes, so either works.

The Reach would be great cinematic villains. The idea of an alien race visiting earth claiming to have benevolent intentions but secretly planning to conquer the planet. They could even throw in some Green Lantern references since the two factions have butted heads for thousands of years.

[J. D. Guy]

Is this live action?

Regardless, it's about time they got off their duff and went forward with making a Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle movie! They know Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle is chock full of potential, which is why there's been so much media exposure over the relatively short life-span of Jaime Reyes' existence as a character, including a live-action Smallville appearance and a live-action pilot for a TV Series that didn't pan out, along with all the animated appearances, many of which have had substantial focus in covering their takes on the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle. While DC has numerous different possible analogues, Jaime Reyes has the potential to be DC's explicit main-stream counterpart to Mavel's Spider-Men, both Miles and Peter (specifically the more "famous" teenage Peter). Capitalizing on that potential is over due, quite frankly!

I echo the thoughts of those who hope this will pan out like Wonder Woman and Shazam, and not fizzle out like the Cyborg movie.

same here. but i hope ted is NOT portrayed as someone old or tech support who is physically incapable of doing his own heroics.

This post brings up a couple of counterpoints I hope will be in consideration, if Ted is used.

First thing: If Ted is used, and I do mean if, meaning I do not see it as a strictly mandatory feature, it should be as a means of giving Jaime and his new Scarab some in-Earth chronological history (magic, technology, or a combination of both is fine with me). Such is to say, if they incorporate Ted, they need to incorporate Dan Garret as well, and I feel it should be for the benefit of providing historical depth for how the Scarab ended up with Jaime.

Second thing: If, and again I do mean if, Ted should play a part in this movie, he should not in any way, shape, or form be allowed to upstage Jaime. This Blue Beetle movie that is being touted as focusing on Jaime Reyes should indeed have Jaime Reyes as its focus. Should Ted Kord (or even Dan Garret for that matter) play a role, it should be in furthering the focus of Jaime Reyes, and not some stealth Ted Kord movie that risks clumsily devolving into or coming off as "Ted's White Man burden of taking care of Jaime" or some other unfortunate nightmare. If this means adapting the canonical portions of Ted's character about how he is not physically healthy enough to be doing serious hero-ing, so as to justify his inclusion without risking any sense of upstaging Jaime, then so be it. If the only other way is to not include Ted in the contemporary time-frame of the movie's/Jaime's present (so outside of any flashbacks), then so be that, too. But what I feel must be done for the sake of this movie and for the sake of Jaime Reyes' real-life reality/identity and possibly for the sake of the entire Blue Beetle franchise as a whole is to avoid making what I feel could very easily be a grievous error of putting Ted Kord, directly and explicitly or indirectly and implicitly or even accidentally or "accidentally", over Jaime Reyes. If they do it right, with wisdom and care, this could be Wonder Woman and Black Panther levels of relevant. But it could also ruin Jaime Reyes and the entire Blue Beetle franchise as a whole if not done with that sense of sage care, or otherwise risk underscoring the raw potential that is Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle, which could arguably be worse.

A bit "doom and gloom" there, I admit, but this is what I foresee as far as this movie's positive and negative potentials.

And while I can understand how this could possibly unsettle fans of Ted Kord, I personally feel that making the movie focus on Jaime and whatever his journey will be should be the paramount focus.

[Güicho]

[...some stealth Ted Kord movie that risks clumsily devolving into or coming off as "Ted's White Man burden of taking care of Jaime" or some other unfortunate nightmare...

A bit "doom and gloom" there, I admit, but this is what I foresee as far as this movie's positive and negative potentials.
.

I understand your concern and history of film is laced with the unfortunate narrative you describe.
I'd be fine if the movie is just Jaime, I love the character. and absolutely see him carrying a movie solo.
Pretty much (on the most superficial level) he's Spider-Man with a cosmic "byte", and everything that spin brings to the table.
Add his family dynamic, it really is a wonderful story and character all on it's own. And if that's the movie they are telling, great!

That said, I'm also sympathetic to the reality of Blue Beetle being a Legacy character, with a long history.
I can't stand the it's one or the other mentality DC and by extension (not you) some fandom has fomented on both sides.
So while this is a Jaime movie, I still see the wonderful potential to use and celebrate the others too (as indicated by my fantasy "Legacy" cast mock-up above) .

As far as Ted being a mentor coming off as the "White Man's Burden" story, I think that could be you or your fears totally projecting onto the character, or worse projecting your own insecurity about Jaime's character or ethnicity, which is a whole other form of bias, under-appreciating how strong, unique, self defined and ultimately independent Jaime's character, roots and personality is regardless.
Equally egregious on the other extreme are fans project the "we" are being replaced narrative, cause "we" to them means only one thing and Jaime can only be seen as the other.

A mentor role is nothing more than a narrative tool often used to develop story arcs of young characters coming into their own. Obvious easy pop reference tropes are Star Wars, Obi-Wan & Yoda to Luke, the more recent Tony Stark to Parker.
There is no reason this can't reflect the same, if in similar narrative, all you can see is some outdated false ethnic hierarchy being revisited, at this point, then that might be on you.
Well written Jaime can draw inspiration from many places, his family a Legacy mentor, history mythology and fiction, and still come out completley a self-defined hero.

As far as Dan or Ted's stories overshadowing Jaime's; again two great examples of films that had a main title hero which everyone acknowledged as the lead, yet celebrated the legacy aspect, giving time, development and importance to both generations of characters were Mask of Zorro, and Ant-Man.
Both respectful gave the mentor character enough of their own history, story arc personal drama and resolution, while also setting-up the new younger lead character's own strong personal story.
Check them out as examples, it's absolutely doable.

[Bruce Wayne]

Legacy is clearly not what motivated WB-AT&T to do something with the character. If anything the Spider-Man/Iron Man and daresay Venom like aspects of the character probably made it a much easier choice than anything legacy related. The people that want Ted in the movie should probably realize they are not the demographic WB is chasing, but rather I think the current millenial/post-millenial MCU crowd.

[J. D. Guy]

I understand your concern and history of film is laced with the unfortunate narrative you describe.
I'd be fine if the movie is just Jaime, I love the character. and absolutely see him carrying a movie solo.
Pretty much (on the most superficial level) he's Spider-Man with a cosmic "byte", and everything that spin brings to the table.
Add his family dynamic, it really is a wonderful story and character all on it's own. And if that's the movie they are telling, great!

That said, I'm also sympathetic to the reality of Blue Beetle being a Legacy character, with a long history.
I can't stand the it's one or the other mentality DC and by extension (not you) some fandom has fomented on both sides.
So while this is a Jaime movie, I still see the wonderful potential to use and celebrate the others too (as indicated by my fantasy "Legacy" cast mock-up above) .

As far as Ted being a mentor coming off as the "White Man's Burden" story, I think that could be you or your fears totally projecting onto the character, or worse projecting your own insecurity about Jaime's character or ethnicity, which is a whole other form of bias, under-appreciating how strong, unique, self defined and ultimately independent Jaime's character, roots and personality is regardless.
Equally egregious on the other extreme are fans project the "we" are being replaced narrative, cause "we" to them means only one thing and Jaime can only be seen as the other.

A mentor role is nothing more than a narrative tool often used to develop story arcs of young characters coming into their own. Obvious easy pop reference tropes are Star Wars, Obi-Wan & Yoda to Luke, the more recent Tony Stark to Parker.
There is no reason this can't reflect the same, if in similar narrative, all you can see is some outdated false ethnic hierarchy being revisited, at this point, then that might be on you.
Well written Jaime can draw inspiration from many places, his family a Legacy mentor, history mythology and fiction, and still come out completley a self-defined hero.

As far as Dan or Ted's stories overshadowing Jaime's; again two great examples of films that had a main title hero which everyone acknowledged as the lead, yet celebrated the legacy aspect, giving time, development and importance to both generations of characters were Mask of Zorro, and Ant-Man.
Both respectful gave the mentor character enough of their own history, story arc personal drama and resolution, while also setting-up the new younger lead character's own strong personal story.
Check them out as examples, it's absolutely doable.

Hollywood is my biggest worry, because their track record in history, as you said, begets such potential worry.

I'm all for the legacy aspect of the franchise being given its due, which is why I mentioned that Dan and Ted existing so as to give the Scarab some in-Earth chronological history of how it ended up with Jaime would be cool. But this aspect, even while giving Dan and Ted their nods of relevancy, should still be with the purpose of furthering and fleshing out Jaime's story. Likewise if Jaime should, for whatever appropriate reason, take Ted as his mentor. That, too, is fine, provided the emphasis is Jaime taking Ted as his mentor in a way that wouldn't get construed as Ted taking Jaime as an apprentice. (That may be what happens literally speaking, but the perspective is important and relevant, and would decide who is being emphasized in that relationship.) If Jaime is meant to star and if this is meant to be a movie about Jaime as Blue Beetle, the narrative perspectives should be focused on Jaime.

The fear that Hollywood and the wrong producer and/or director and/or other negative Hollywood influence could end up turning or injecting elements that could be or come off as "White Man's Burden" is not an unreasonable one. Hollywood's poor history with negatives of any kind should not be underestimated.

Furthermore, I'm rather disheartened to see you call it a projection on my part, a disingenuous and reductionist thing to do. It's a genuine worry, but it isn't a projection (what would I even be projecting onto? "Projection" implies a trait they don't have or have never exuded that I'm affixing them with, which isn't the case here). Having read my post, you had to have seen that I have the utmost faith in Jaime and all of the aspects of his character, including culturally and ethnically. I've been following pretty much all the different incarnations of the character since his comic book inception. I know he has what it takes.

My worry is not for Jaime, except perhaps that he won't be tapped to his fullest potential, which while potentially related, is really its own thing. But no, my worry lies with the potential mismanaging of things that could lead to untoward-ness, and the over-focusing or mismanaged focusing of Ted over Jaime would be one of if not the biggest risk for such to happen. Again, there is some "doom and gloom" there, and it is not without a sense of hope; the right director with the right producer and the right writers with the right influences (if any) would, I firmly believe, allow Blue Beetle to become a household name. But given Hollywood's track record for any such similar negative things, my worry isn't an unfounded one.

And I know that such proper nuanced spread of legacy that doesn't over-strip the lead's role in the story, the lead's own legacy, can and has been done. Unfortunately, that does not guarantee that it will be in this case, nor erase the past negatives, and so the worry and fear remains. (That I'm such a fan of Jaime does come at the cost of being so particularly.)

[El_Gato]

I wonder if someone like Alfonso Cuaron would be interested in directing a Blue Beetle film? He seems to genuinely do a great job with younger characters and has made some really good films! Or is he like Alejandro Inarritu, who hates Superhero films?

One thing is for sure, there is plenty of talented Latino directors to choose from!

[Agent Z]

Something I've been considering for a while. What if instead of being a Scarab host, Jaime was depicted as being a human superhero just like Ted. We don't have a lot of human heroes of color in the DC universe, let alone ones as smart as Ted or Bruce.

[Güicho]

Hollywood is my biggest worry, because their track record in history, as you said, begets such potential worry.

Yeah I absolutely recognize and sympathies with your concern, and how in the wrong hands that could easily come off the wrong way.
And I'd be more than fine with a Blue Beetle movie being just about Jaime, his unique origin as solo concept and character I believe is more than strong enough to carry a movie alone. Especially with an emphasis on his strong family as mentors. This is something I'd absolutely love to see them develop.

That said as far as making him a Legacy character, I think they can have both, again just want to emphasize two movies that pulled off the legacy aspect really well, and were fair to and developed both generations of characters: Mask of Zorro and Ant-Man.
If a Blue Beetle film allowed a similar dynamic, as far as some ethnic undermining of the character, there is nothing in those models or dynamic that would specifically compromise Jaime's character as far as being latino, unless it's the viewer bringing that baggage or insecurity to the character.

[liwanag]

Is this live action?

Regardless, it's about time they got off their duff and went forward with making a Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle movie! They know Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle is chock full of potential, which is why there's been so much media exposure over the relatively short life-span of Jaime Reyes' existence as a character, including a live-action Smallville appearance and a live-action pilot for a TV Series that didn't pan out, along with all the animated appearances, many of which have had substantial focus in covering their takes on the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle. While DC has numerous different possible analogues, Jaime Reyes has the potential to be DC's explicit main-stream counterpart to Mavel's Spider-Men, both Miles and Peter (specifically the more "famous" teenage Peter). Capitalizing on that potential is over due, quite frankly!

I echo the thoughts of those who hope this will pan out like Wonder Woman and Shazam, and not fizzle out like the Cyborg movie.



This post brings up a couple of counterpoints I hope will be in consideration, if Ted is used.

First thing: If Ted is used, and I do mean if, meaning I do not see it as a strictly mandatory feature, it should be as a means of giving Jaime and his new Scarab some in-Earth chronological history (magic, technology, or a combination of both is fine with me). Such is to say, if they incorporate Ted, they need to incorporate Dan Garret as well, and I feel it should be for the benefit of providing historical depth for how the Scarab ended up with Jaime.

Second thing: If, and again I do mean if, Ted should play a part in this movie, he should not in any way, shape, or form be allowed to upstage Jaime. This Blue Beetle movie that is being touted as focusing on Jaime Reyes should indeed have Jaime Reyes as its focus. Should Ted Kord (or even Dan Garret for that matter) play a role, it should be in furthering the focus of Jaime Reyes, and not some stealth Ted Kord movie that risks clumsily devolving into or coming off as "Ted's White Man burden of taking care of Jaime" or some other unfortunate nightmare. If this means adapting the canonical portions of Ted's character about how he is not physically healthy enough to be doing serious hero-ing, so as to justify his inclusion without risking any sense of upstaging Jaime, then so be it. If the only other way is to not include Ted in the contemporary time-frame of the movie's/Jaime's present (so outside of any flashbacks), then so be that, too. But what I feel must be done for the sake of this movie and for the sake of Jaime Reyes' real-life reality/identity and possibly for the sake of the entire Blue Beetle franchise as a whole is to avoid making what I feel could very easily be a grievous error of putting Ted Kord, directly and explicitly or indirectly and implicitly or even accidentally or "accidentally", over Jaime Reyes. If they do it right, with wisdom and care, this could be Wonder Woman and Black Panther levels of relevant. But it could also ruin Jaime Reyes and the entire Blue Beetle franchise as a whole if not done with that sense of sage care, or otherwise risk underscoring the raw potential that is Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle, which could arguably be worse.

A bit "doom and gloom" there, I admit, but this is what I foresee as far as this movie's positive and negative potentials.

And while I can understand how this could possibly unsettle fans of Ted Kord, I personally feel that making the movie focus on Jaime and whatever his journey will be should be the paramount focus.

ok. if, a big if, ted is used:

- ted should not be allowed to upstage jaime in any form, but further the focus on him.
- it should not be a stealth ted kord movie.
- avoid the grievous error of putting ted over jaime for the sake of the movie, or risk the possibility of ruining jaime or the franchise.

got it. i've considered it. thanks.

[Güicho]

Something I've been considering for a while. What if instead of being a Scarab host, Jaime was depicted as being a human superhero just like Ted. We don't have a lot of human heroes of color in the DC universe, let alone ones as smart as Ted or Bruce.

LOL "a human hero" " Jaime is very human, but I guess what you mean a self-made hero with "powers" of his own design or creation?
I don't think Jaime needs to be exactly that, sure there could stand to be a genius level type self-made latino hero, but that's just another character, not Jaime's story. He didn't invent the tech or the suit. He's his own thing, why make him more a Ted Kord knock off, there is no reason for it.

[Agent Z]

https://twitter.com/TomKingTK/status...728067/photo/1

King hints at Ted showing up in Heroes in Crisis.