The Blue Beetle Show Was DCTV's Biggest Missed Opportunity (2024)

The CW is currently known for their Arrowverse, which is a shared universe of shows, characters and properties based on those from DC Comics. The Arrowverse itself is coming to an end, and The CW is largely following behind it. Before Stephen Amell first put on the hood of Green Arrow, however, another DC hero with a color-coded name was reportedly in the works to have his own live-action show.

Blue Beetle is about to find box office stardom on the big screen. But according to some 2010 tweets from former DC President and CCO Geoff Johns, there was interest in developing a live-action TV series about the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle. This didn't happen, of course, and television adaptations of DC characters ultimately went in a very different direction with Arrow as the start of a live-action DCTV universe (aka, the aforementioned Arrowverse). If Jaime Reyes did indeed get his own show, however, it might've changed the way that he and DC were looked at by the public.

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Blue Beetle Almost Starred In a Live-Action TV Series

As mentioned, there were plans for a potential Blue Beetle series in 2010, with test footage even being released for the trajectory of the show's development. Developed by Geoff Johns, this actually would have been the second live-action take on the character, who had just debuted on the final season of the network's long-running Smallville. The test footage is mostly CGI, as opposed to the blocky practical suit used in Smallville. For this reason, the effects are definitely dated to look back at, though they were meant more as a proof of concept than anything reflecting the potential show's quality.

It also wasn't a true teaser or trailer for anything coming forward, which is part of why it failed to ever materialize into a show. Thus, the tentative Blue Beetle show wasn't rejected by a network so much as it was never in production of any sort to begin with. Even though there was no real reason to go forward with it (especially given how dubious the effects of later CW shows such as The Flash would be), it remains one of the network's biggest missed opportunities and the character's.

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A Live-Action TV Show May Have Propelled Blue Beetle to Stardom

By the early 2010s, the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle was being pushed in numerous mediums, namely comic books and cartoons such as Batman: The Brave and the Bold. While it could be argued that his appearance on Smallville was another manifestation of this, it again was more criticized than anything, especially by fans. A sleeker show where Jaime was the star might have made him a mainstream hero among different generations.

If nothing else, a network like The CW likely had the budget to turn Blue Beetle into essentially a Power Rangers show for teens and young adults, much like how Smallville did the same with a young Superman. The hero's suit already resembles Kamen Rider and Guyver, so going a step forward in terms of special effects would be a great way to stay economical while still looking fairly cool. If the show had ended up on The CW, its development would have also changed their trajectory with DC properties. A year after Smallville came to an end, The CW began airing Arrow. Though initially a much more grounded series, it would go on to spawn an entire universe of DC shows.

Of course, Blue Beetle beating Oliver Queen to the chase would've likely thrown a more grounded universe out of the window, instead centering things around the more cosmic Blue Beetle. This could've seen The Flash, the Legends and other heroes show up much faster, especially if Blue Beetle was a hit. This ended up not happening, with the Blue Beetle legacy as a whole completely absent from the Arrowverse. Instead, Jaime will ironically beat some of those characters to the big screen, fulfilling the popularity that had once made him the possible star of a TV series.

Blue Beetle hits theaters on Aug. 18, 2023.