Fans of Blue Beetle were overjoyed when it was confirmed this year by DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn that Xolo Maridueña would reprise the titular role in the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow. Something that fans assumed meant his movie and its story would be integrated into the larger DCU moving forward. However, Gunn recently confirmed that might not be the case after all.
In his announcement welcoming Mackenzie Davis as Big Barda and Josh Hutcherson as Scott Free in the animated Mister Miracle series on Threads, James Gunn answered five questions from one fan, one of which was "Since Blue Beetle is canon, was Ted Kord friends with [Booster Gold] before he disappeared?"
In response to that question, Gunn said plainly, "Blue Beetle the character is canon," suggesting that the movie itself and everything that happened within it, such as the mystery behind Kord's disappearance, won't be canon to the DCU. It could be that Blue Beetle lies in the same realm of canon as James Gunn's The Suicide Squad as an "imperfect memory."
It's also entirely possible that Maridueña's animated Blue Beetle series, originally slated for this year, would have helped recontextualize his place within the DCU before Man of Tomorrow's release in 2027. However, that still leaves Ted Kord's exact role in the DCU a mystery, especially since the movie ended with a post-credits scene revealing he was alive.
What Will Happen to Ted Kord in the DCU?
Ted Kord was infamously shot in the head by Maxwell Lord in 2005 in the one-shot comic Countdown to Infinite Crisis, in which Jaime Reyes later took up the mantle of Blue Beetle in his absence thanks to the Scarab attaching itself to him. However, James Gunn has gone on record (via Threads) denying that Sean Gunn's portrayal of the character would ever become so villainous.
According to him, Lord will be based on the "[original] version" who was "a multi-layered character who was morally gray." So, it's guaranteed that this adaptation of Maxwell Lord has never, and will never, kill Ted Kord in the DCU as he did in the comics. But with the DCU already killing off veteran superheroes like Hal Jordan in Lanterns, nothing is stopping the DCU from doing the same with Ted Kord in some other manner unrelated to Maxwell Lord.
Alternatively, in the comics, after Ted Kord's death was undone by his best friend, Booster Gold, and another universal reshuffling with DC Rebirth, Kord was alive and well again, becoming a dedicated mentor figure to Jaime Reyes as he learned to use the Scarab. A dynamic that could easily be translated in the DCU, with Kord simply being found in between Blue Beetle and Man of Tomorrow.
Maybe the animated series could have even been about finally finding Ted Kord and fulfilling the promise the post-credit scene made. It would've also still left Jaime on his own, which would add more drama and conflict for the character if he has to figure everything out about the Scarab by himself without someone like Kord helping him at every step. Regardless, Xolo Maridueña's return as Blue Beetle in Man of Tomorrow should shed at least some light on his predecessor.
