It was no question that James Gunn and Peter Safran inherited one of the most cursed franchises in the business at the moment, regarding the DC Universe being forever subject to comparisons with the markedly more successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. But especially with a tried and true comics creative in James Gunn, who brought us Peacemaker, The Suicide Squad, and The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise in the MCU, we certainly won’t be surprised if the DC Universe blossoms into a peerless branch of its own before long.
And some of those hopes are riding on Blue Beetle, the upcoming DCU film slated for next year that’s set to introduce the eponymous alien host into the franchise. It was in the works long before Gunn and Safran showed up, but perhaps it’s not too late to get a sprinkle of influence tossed into it.
For now, though, the side-by-side’s with Marvel haven’t ceased just yet, and for every fan on r/DC_Cinematic that dares to size Jaime Reyes up to Peter Parker, there’s another that’s right sick of it.
And it didn’t end there. Other responders doubled down and suggested that Jaime could be the DC equivalent of Ghost Rider, Ms. Marvel, and Scott Lang, of all people.
But others, the charitable grunts they are, were here to remind everyone that DC does in fact exist without Marvel.
We’ll move from this stance if we ever catch wind of Blue Beetle: No Way Home, but unless that happens, we’ll firmly uphold the belief that Blue Beetle is more than capable of standing on his own two feet without an obvious Marvel counterpart.
Blue Beetle releases in theaters on Aug. 18, 2023.