I remember Blue Beetle being released in theaters, but missed my chance to go. The DCU was kind of a mess with James Gunn trying to figure out what was canon or not. Blue Beetle, I felt got lost in that shuffle. When me and my husband were deciding what we wanted to watch, he encouraged me to watch Blue Beetle with him because he really enjoyed it. Blue Beetle was a solid movie from DC and I’d love to see Blue Beetle pop up in future DCU movies.

Blue Beetle follows Jaime Reyes (played by Xolo Maridueña) as he flies home to see family after graduating college. He gets a job cleaning a rich mansion belonging to Victoria Kord (played by Susan Sarandon). Jaime overhears an argument between Victoria and Jenny Kord (played by Bruna Marquezine). After standing up for Jenny, Jaime and his sister, Milagro (played by Belissa Escobedo) are fired from the job. Jenny promises Jaime she can get him a job at her father’s company, Kord Industries. Jaime arrives at Kord the next day where he bumps into an anxiety-ridden Jenny. She gives Jaime an enclosed package and tells him not to open it. Jaime shows it to his family revealing that he has a blue scarab. The scarab attaches to Jaime which freaks out his family. Victoria realizes the scarab is gone and will do everything to retrieve it.

The DCU’s track record is not great, so it’s nice that Blue Beetle is a good movie. I liked Xolo as Jaime Reyes. I think he embodies the character and brings a Spider-Man-youth to the role. Jaime’s family is easily the best part of the film. George Lopez plays Jaime’s Uncle Rudy and is hilarious. There’s a scene where Uncle Rudy explores the original Blue Beetle’s stuff and he is thrilled. Nana, played by Adriana Barraza, has her time to shine and shows up to protect her grandson. Jaime’s connection to his culture and family is a core feature of this film.

Regarding the villain, I think it’s easy to say that Susan Sarandon is not a memorable villain. However, I think Victoria has her moments. She is shown through flashbacks of going to foreign countries and how the weapons she helped create would destroy countries. Her righthand man, Carpax (played by Raoul Max Trujillo) is a victim. He was saved but forced to participate in Victoria’s experiments. Victoria violates many human rights violations, but because she’s rich, she gets away with it. Victoria being a villain is almost too real. She may not be able to go hand in hand with Jaime, but I’d argue that what Victoria does is even scarier.

The real question worth addressing is whether Blue Beetle is canon in James Gunn’s DCU? According to a quick internet search, the answer is yes. Although, it’s not clear how Blue Beetle as a character will fit into his future projects. It would be a dream to see Blue Beetle show up in a live adaptation of Young Justice as that was my first introduction to Blue Beetle as a character.

Blue Beetle is well worth the watch. I thought the movie has character and life to it which is something the DCU needs.