Booster Gold: Could Blue Beetle Appear in the DCU's HBO Max Show?
The future of the DC Universe was unveiled on Tuesday, with DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran outlining their plans for new movies and HBO Max-exclusive television shows. One of the most surprising — and long-awaited — entries in that list is Booster Gold, a television series that will follow the titular hero from the future. The prospect of seeing Michael Carter / Booster Gold in his own solo project has enticed fans for quite a while now, and while we know next-to-nothing about the series, there are definitely some tropes from Booster Gold comics that could make their way onscreen. Chief among them might be: could we see one or more characters from DC's Blue Beetle mantle appear in the show?
Originally a character from the Charlton Comics line, Blue Beetle is best associated with Ted Kord, the second man to hold the mantle and the first to be properly integrated into DC's comics. Ted had a lengthy superhero career prior to his death in the Infinite Crisis crossover, which led to him being succeeded by Jaime Reyes, a teenager who accidentally finds the Blue Beetle scarab. Both Ted and Jaime are pretty associated with Booster — Ted had a prolific relationship (usually platonic, but sometimes characterized as romantic) with Booster, and Booster became somewhat of a reluctant mentor to Jaime in Ted's death.
Will Blue Beetle appear in Booster Gold?
While we don't know exactly when Booster Gold will debut, we know that it will be predated by a Blue Beetle movie, starring Xolo Maridueña as Jaime. Both Gunn and Safran have hinted that the events of Blue Beetle could carry over into their new DC Universe, especially since that film will debut after The Flash movie resents canon. If Maridueña's Jaime does end up being a part of the new DCU (which, based on the already-passionate fan response to his character, seems likely), it certainly wouldn't be out of the question for him to factor into the Booster show somehow.
On the flip side is Ted — a character whose role in the Blue Beetle movie has been heavily-rumored but still unconfirmed. With Susan Sarandon portraying Ted's older sister, Victoria Kord, in the film, it is safe to assume that his legacy will factor into the narrative in some way. Whether Ted is dead or missing in time or actually does appear in Blue Beetle, that could kick open the door for Booster Gold to examine that status quo. The idea of Booster traversing time and space to search for Ted could definitely make a compelling plotline on the show — and bring one of DC's most beloved partnerships to life onscreen.
Do you want to see Blue Beetle appear in the Booster Gold HBO Max series? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!