Blue Beetle: How DC Created Susan Sarandon's Villain Victoria Kord

It's not often that a major comic book publisher will create a whole new character for an actor, but that's kind of what happened when the DCU announced the upcoming "Blue Beetle" film. Those who watched the first trailer have seen the cast in action, including Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon. Sarandon was announced to be in "Blue Beetle" in April of 2022, playing a new character named Victoria Kord. 

It isn't unheard of for comic book movies to introduce new characters that haven't appeared in the comics, and sometimes they are later integrated into the comics following this, like with Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) from "The Avengers." That's now happening with Victoria Kord, who has been recently introduced into the ongoing "Blue Beetle" comic. 

Given that Blue Beetle has a mythos going back decades, integrating Victoria to a degree that would build her credibility among fans was no insignificant feat. One viable avenue would be to tie her to other longstanding characters in the comic, which is exactly what happened.

When it was announced that Susan Sarandon would play Victoria Kord in "Blue Beetle," little else was given other than her name. Still, that name likely caught the attention of fans of the comic. Just as there have been several superheroes known as the Green Lantern, there has also been more than one Blue Beetle. Before the current iteration of Jaime Reyes, it was Ted Kord flying around in the scarab suit. 

Victoria's first comic book appearance came in "Blue Beetle: Graduation Day" Issue #2, which was released in November of 2022. In the issue, Ted, having taken the new Blue Beetle Jaime under his wing, introduces him to Victoria, who is his older sister. The two work together at Kord Industries with Victoria heading up the research and development department. 

At first, it appears everyone is on the same side, but as time goes on, it becomes apparent that Victoria is not entirely on board. Far from it, she's out to steal the scarab suit that bonded with Jaime, as well as other scarabs popping up around the world.

As Sarandon's Victoria says in her brief time in the trailer, "the scarab chose you, but it belongs to me." Why exactly she wants possession of all the scarabs isn't clear, but hopefully that will be revealed when "Blue Beetle" is released on August 18.