Blue Beetle & James Gunn's Green Lantern Could Become A Big DC Movie Conflict
Despite being originally intended to be part of the DC Extended Universe, "Blue Beetle" will have a bright future at James Gunn's DC Studios, as he has confirmed the character will continue in his new comic book movie universe. That's great news for fans of the hero, but the recent announcement that "Superman: Legacy" has added Nathan Fillion to its cast as a Green Lantern could spell trouble for Xolo Maridueña's Blue Beetle.
In "Blue Beetle" #1, Jaime Reyes' first solo comic, Green Lantern Guy Gardner confronts the young hero and immediately begins attacking in an attempt to kill him. Completely forgetting why he was looking for Jaime, Guy continues to beat him until he realizes how old Blue Beetle is. Guy's power ring takes an unusually aggressive stance and suggests he kill Jaime, but the Green Lantern refuses, stating he won't kill a kid and leaving him in the middle of nowhere instead.
In "Blue Beetle" #14, it's revealed that the Green Lanterns and The Reach (the alien race that created the Blue Beetle scarab) fought against one another in a long war, signing a peace treaty thousands of years before Jaime and Guy's showdown. Because of the prolonged conflict between Lanterns and The Reach, their equipment — in this case, Guy's ring and Jaime's scarab — react when near one another, pushing their users into violent conflict.
A galactic conflict could come to the DCU
It doesn't seem like a coincidence that James Gunn's first-established DCU characters include both Guy Gardner and Blue Beetle. Gardner's inclusion in "Superman: Legacy," will likely see the Green Lantern butt heads with the Man of Steel. However, with Blue Beetle set to continue his journey in the DCU, the Green Lantern's attention could quickly pivot to the scarab-powered hero.
Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner are both fan-favorite DC Comics characters, so having them forced into battle due to their respective organizations' pasts would be an exciting story to explore. While we wouldn't expect either to stay antagonistic with each other for long, Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner could bring an interesting dynamic to the DC Universe, and an eventual team-up to take down The Reach would echo their story from the comics.
"Superman: Legacy" will introduce audiences to a world already filled with superheroes, so by the time we see Gardner on screen, the Green Lanterns and The Reach could be in the middle of a war with one another. After Blue Beetle's DCU introduction, it wouldn't be much of a leap to have the two heroes wielding space-based weapons interact or even see them forced into fighting one another, echoing their first meeting in "Blue Beetle" #1. The conflict could also give the DCU a galactic battle similar to Marvel's Kree vs. Skrulls, but with more compelling characters thrust onto both sides of the conflict.