The live-action The DC Universe was undergoing a transformation even before Blue Beetle entered production. Following the change in management and creation of DC Studios, a soft reboot of the existing DCEU started to take its course. This created confusion in existing continuity, and the last-minute changes in movies like The Flash were noticeable through reshoots and altered post-credits sequences.
To stray clear from this continuity confusion and to make way for a smoother inclusion in whichever movie continuity it’s required to be in, Blue Beetle did not opt for an established character cameo or direct reference to any DCEU events. Instead, for the entirety of its narrative structure, Blue Beetle was pretty consistent with the exploration of its self-contained world, which is true for its mid-credits scene as well. Let’s discuss the importance of the mid-credits scene in the context of the movie and also how it can shape things up for the upcoming rebooted universe, DCU, in the long run as well.
Return Of The Second Blue Beetle: Ted Kord
As we saw in Blue Beetle, after getting symbiotically attached to the techno-morphing sentient Scarab, Khaji Da, Jaime Reyes found himself encased in a protective exosuit that took him on a ride through space and caused collateral damage across his hometown, Palmera City. Later, Jennifer Kord, who had entrusted him with the Scarab in the first place, offers help as she accesses a hidden lair inside their dilapidated family mansion to search for clues to remove the Scarab. It is revealed that Jenny’s father, Ted Kord, was Palmera City’s first supehero, the second Blue Beetle, taking up the mantle from his mentor, Professor Dan Garrett, who was the first Blue Beetle and had received powers after acquiring Khaji Da. However, Ted believed that the Scarab chose its host, and after the passing of Dan, it never chose him. Nevertheless, he was willing to honor his mentor; he used his technological expertise and family fortune to take up the mantle of the Beetle, and he became a self-made vigilante. Even the super-skeptical Uncle Rudy had profound respect for the light-hearted hero’s shenanigans. Jenny also reveals that since her mother’s passing, Ted became increasingly distant from worldly affairs and sporadically went missing, until one day he didn’t return at all and disappeared without a trace.
The lair is shown to be filled with gadgets, two sets of comic-accurate costumes of the first two Beetles, an analog supercomputer, and various other findings, which corroborate Jenny’s claim that Ted spent his lifetime researching the Scarab. Going through his findings, Rudy discovers that there is no way for Jaime to remove the scarab as long as he is alive, as it has already bonded symbiotically with his neural and other physiological systems. Later, when the villainous Victoria Kord abducts Jaime to extract Scarab’s data to power her OMAC project, Jenny and the Reyes family use Ted’s gadgets and his advanced aircraft, ‘Bug,’ to rescue him. After all is said and done, the mid-credit scene shows the computer system at the Beetle lair getting activated on its own, and a voice transmission from none other than Ted Kord himself informs us that he is alive and wants this transmission to be relayed to his daughter, Jennifer. It turns out that Rudy activating the system after so many years helped Ted send his message to the Beetle Lair, which may lead to his rescue as well in the future.
Mentor To Jaime
Blue Beetle does a great job of establishing and signifying the importance of the legacy of the character Blue Beetle by making Ted Kord’s character a pivotal aspect in the narrative, even without his presence. Given the assumption that Ted gets rescued by Jaime and co., his role in DCU will be expansive. Primarily, he can act as a mentor to the newest person to take the Blue Beetle mantle, Jaime Reyes. As shown in the movie as well as in the comics, thanks to his learning from Dan Garrett’s experience with the Scarab and his own research, Ted has extensive knowledge regarding the living relic. Who knows? Perhaps his search for its origin somehow connected him with the Reach, the ancient alien civilization that created the Scarab as a biotechnological weapon of universal dominance. Aside from Ted’s knowledge of Khaji Da, an inexperienced Jaime will learn a lot about the basic precepts of heroism from the veteran vigilante as well.
Blue And Gold
In comics, after the majority of characters in Charlton comics were purchased by DC, they went through some minor changes to suit the existing world-building. Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle’s minor objectivist flair imbued by the creator Steve Ditko’s personal philosophy was retained along with a sense of humor, and in his adventures, he was partnered up with another apparently witty yet significantly layered character, Booster Gold, aka Michael Jon Carter. In comics, just like Ted, Michael was a self-made hero as well, but in his case, he stole advanced technology from the 25th century and used it in effective ways to become a hero. This resulted in him suffering from imposter syndrome, which soon became a perfect pairing for Ted Kord’s not-too-serious, self-deprecating heroism.
During their time in Justice League International, a new, shuffled-up version of JLA, Booster Gold, and Blue Beetle became best buddies and engaged in increasingly foolish activities like founding a casino and unwittingly wasting money in duplicitous schemes, to name a few. Whatever humiliation fate has assigned to the duo, the low-self-esteem duo has always stood by each other’s side. With James Gunn’s new DCU slate already announcing a Booster Gold series to be on the list, the mid-credits scene from Blue Beetle will inevitably lead to a successful continuation, and fans will have the chance to see ‘Blue and Gold’ in live action for the first time. Who knows, the makers might develop the backstory through this tease as well, explaining how the time travel shenanigans of Booster entrapped Ted in a different reality or timeline for so long in the first place.
Lastly, a Ted Kord/Dan Garrett combined Blue Beetle sequel to explore the Golden and Silver Ages of the superhero comics landscape in retrospection is also something DC fans will look forward to. The acknowledgment of the legacy deserves continuation, and the acceptability of Jaime Reyes among the mainstream audience will hopefully lead to that.
