Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Blue Beetle
The DC Universe is built on a number of themes, including legacy. From the Green Lantern to the Flash, plenty of heroes have established that their heroic deeds will live on through a number of individuals, and that same sense of legacy even extends to teams like the Justice Society and the Justice League. Even Batman and Superman have their own legacy in the form oftheir sons Damian Wayneand Jon Kent — better known to the world as the Super-Sons. That same sense of legacy extends toBlue Beetle— both in the feature film and the comics that inspired it.Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña)is the Blue Beetle the film follows, but comic book fans will know thatthere was another character associated with the mantle: Ted Kord.
Blue Beetle
An alien scarab chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the recent college graduate with a suit of armor that’s capable of extraordinary powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle.
Ted Kord Is Not the Original Blue Beetle
Kord holds the distinction of beingcreated bySteve Ditko,who is well-known for co-creating Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel. Ironically, though Kord is the most popular Blue Beetle next to Jaime, he’s only the second person to hold the mantle.The first ever Blue Beetlewas archaeologist Dan Garrett, who gained superhuman powers after he discovered a mystical scarab during a dig in Egypt. Garrett ended up battling Kord’s uncle Jarvis to stop him from creating an army of androids to take over the world, which led to both men dying in the aftermath. Kord took up the mantle of Blue Beetle to honor Garrett, though he used weaponry of his own design. His most prominent gadgets were his sidearm, which could emit strong gusts of wind or blinding light, and the “Bug” — a hovercraft shaped like the scarab Garrett utilized. He’d fight evil by night, while he ran Kord Industries during the day.
Kord is best known for joining the Justice League International, which became a cult classic due to the work ofKeith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, andKevin Maguire; therehe struck up a fast friendship with thetime-traveling hero Booster Gold. He would later become embroiled in one of the most controversial decisions in DC Comics history when he was murdered by his former JLI teammate Maxwell Lord.The New 52reboot saw Ted return to the land of the living as he fends off a corporate takeoverfrom Lex Luthor; soon he’d work with Jaime Reyes to fight crime.
Ted Kord, Along With Other Heroes, Inspired the ‘Watchmen’ Comics
Prior to his adventures in DC, Kord was part of Charlton Comics — an independent comic company that also published a line of superhero titles including heroes such as Captain Atom, The Question, andPeacemaker. However, by the 1980s, Charlton was on the decline and decided to sell its characters to DC.The Charlton characters were officially folded into the DC Universe during the epicCrisis on Infinite Earthscrossover, where it was revealed that they resided on Earth-4. Kord was even one of the heroes that was first summoned by the mysterious Monitor in order to stop all of existence from being wiped out. But the Charlton comic characters could have been the focus of one of the biggest comic book stories ever told:Watchmen.
Alan Mooreoriginally crafted the comic book epic around the Charlton heroes, with the original title “Who Killed the Peacemaker?” DC’s editor at the time,Dick Giordano, convinced him andDave Gibbonsto instead re-work the story to become original characters. Captain Atom became Doctor Manhattan. The Peacemaker became the Comedian. Finally,Kord’s Blue Beetle inspired Nite-Owl, down to the Owlship and owl-themed gadgets in lieu of beetle-themed ones. Moore actually said the change was for the better, as using original characters allowed him a greater deal of freedom. “If we had used the Charlton characters inWatchmen, after #12, even though the Captain Atom character would’ve still been alive, DC couldn’t really have done a comic book about that character without taking away from what became Watchmen,“he said in an interview. “Eventually, I realized that if I wrote the substitute characters well enough, so that they seemed familiar in certain ways, certain aspects of them brought back a kind of generic super-hero resonance or familiarity to the reader, then it might work.” The gambit worked, asWatchmenbecame a cult classic and was adapted numerous times, including anupcoming animated adaptation in 2024.
How Does Ted Kord Fit Into ‘Blue Beetle’?
Ted Kord’s shadow looms large over theBlue Beetlefilm, as he is presumed dead when the story begins. His sisterVictoria Kord (Susan Sarandon)has slowly been turning Kord Industries into a factory to build weapons, while his daughter Jenny (Bruna Marquezine) opposes her at every turn. Jenny ends up stealing the Scarab from under Victoria’s nose, and passes it on to Jaime…unaware thatthe Scarab bonds with Jamie in the process. Jaime is eventually recaptured by Kord Industries' forces, leaving Jenny and his family to save him by utilizing Ted’s old gadgets, including the Bug. Dan Garrett is also revealed to have played a part in the Blue Beetle’s legacy, as the start of the film reveals that he was the one who discovered the Scarab.
The mid-credits sequencereturns to the Blue Beetle’s original lair, where his ancient computer switches on. A message comes through: “This is Ted Kord…and I’m alive!” Obviously, this sets the stage for a potentialBlue Beetlesequel, but Kord has another potential entry intoJames Gunn and Peter Safran’s upcoming DC Studios slate. The duo has revealed thata television series featuring Booster Gold is in the works, and one storyline could feature Kord in a significant capacity. During theBooster Goldcomic written byGeoff Johns, Booster attempts to fix time so that Kord survives his fatal confrontation with Maxwell Lord. If Kord is lost in time, it could provide the perfect hook for theBooster Goldtelevision series as well as any future Blue Beetle adventures.
Blue Beetleis available to stream on Max in the U.S.
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