Dan DiDio was the man in charge of DC Comics back in 2005 when the company published Countdown to Infinite Crisis. In this one-shot publication, Blue Beetle’s death was what sparked a series of events that shook up the entire DC Universe.
DiDio received a shirt commemorating the publication of Countdown to Infinite Crisis. The shirt, which he recently posted a picture of on his Instagram, reads, “I killed Blue Beetle and all I got was this lousy shirt”. DiDio captioned the post, “Going through some boxes and came across this old office oddity. I was gifted this shirt following the success of Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1. It was [the] culmination of a year’s worth of planning and a big moment for all who worked on the book. More importantly, it was the event that launched a thousand stories. Fun, crazy times.”
Before Infinite Crisis, the mantle of Blue Beetle belonged to Ted Kord — the second Blue Beetle. Kord, unlike his predecessor, Dan Garrett, did not inherit his powers from an ancient Egyptian Scarab. In fact, he had no powers. He studied under Garrett, but after the first Blue Beetle died in battle, he passed on the mantle, but not the powers. This was hardly a challenge for Kord, as he was a gifted athlete and a genius-level inventor. This iteration of Blue Beetle was a recurring figure in DC Comics for nearly 40 years, crossing paths with characters like Doomsday, the Justice League of America, Doctor Manhattan, and The Batman Who Laughs. After his death in DC Countdown, Jaime Reyes would take on the mantle of the Blue Beetle.
It is the third iteration of the hero, Reyes, who Xolo Maridueña portrays in the recently released film Blue Beetle. Directed by Angel Manuel Soto, the film marks one of the first entries to James Gunn’s DC Universe. Last year, Gunn and Peter Safran were named co-heads of DC Studios, with the intent of revamping the company’s IPs into new, successful film and television franchises.
The first chapter of Gunn and Safran’s DCU is titled “Gods and Monsters”, and will start with Superman: Legacy. There will also be a Batman movie, titled Batman: The Brave and the Bold, for which there have been plenty of casting rumors. Although Blue Beetle will be a character in the DC Universe, the film is “entirely disconnected,” as Gunn put it, from the main storyline that the new franchise will follow.
Blue Beetle is currently in theaters.
Source: Instagram