How Blue Beetle is the Hero James Gunn's DCU Needs
It is no secret the DC Universe has had its fair share of setbacks when it has come to live action films.
From trying to start a universe with Green Lantern, to Man of Steel starting the inconsistent DCEU, it has been hard to watch so many heroes wasted by studio interference, failed universe building, and let's just say, unorthodoxed takes on famous characters (I'm looking at you Joker and Lex).
Now we have an opportunity for a fresh start.
Director James Gunn has a new lineup of films consisting of big swings and fan favorite characters, hoping to build up the DCU we know and love.
In this new marriage between Warner Bros and Gunn, he has inherited 4 children from the previous marriage. The previous box office bomb Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the current box office bomb The Flash, the sequel to one of the biggest DCEU movies Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Blue Beetle, the attempt at a new hero for the DCEU franchise who is somewhat left up in the air between DCEU and DCU.
While some have already chalked this up as another potential bomb, of the 4 movies, this has been my most anticipated.
Unlike the others, Blue Beetle I believe is in a prime slot as the right character, right time, not only to the general public, but to the DCU. Here's why:
1. The Flexibility of Blue Beetle
Unlike the characters Shazam, Flash, and Aquaman, Blue Beetle is not directly attached the DCEU.
Besides a mention of Batman, and the gear of (the probably late) Ted Kord, Blue Beetle doesn't have many connections to a wider DC Universe. He can exist in either, if they wish to continue one or both.
2. The World Building Potential
Blue Beetle opens up another part of the DC Universe in multiple different ways EARLY.
As the Scarab is a part of The Reach, this opens up a whole other side of DCU we have never seen, and potentially sets up an invasion storyline.
The Reach also have a deal with The Guardians of the Universe of Oa, setting him up for a potential Green Lantern crossover nicely.
But unlike many other heroes, Jaime Reyes isn't just a member of the Justice League...
He's a TEEN TITAN!
Jaime opens the door to young heroes existing already! The Teen Titans are a fan favorite, but he is also a member of Young Justice, who are equally as fun.
This is currently an untapped market for both DC and Marvel (though I'm sure the Young Avengers are coming). Jaime can act as a door between both, offering a perspective as the youngest member of the Justice League, and the senior member of the Titans.
3. Legacy Characters are IN
A particular kind at least.
If I had a nickel for every legacy character who is (vaguely) attached to a hero they admire, who take on that hero's name, with a similar but different set of powers, who then makes their old costume better, and who happen to be a person of color, I'd have three nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it has happened thrice.
The most famous of course is Miles Morales AKA Spider-Man, who has headed two incredible movies and a pretty sweet video game, along with several appearances in animation.
The second is fan favorite Kamala Khan AKA Ms. Marvel, who had a pretty solid show and also headed up a video game. While these are not as good as Mile's, they are both in the zeitgeist, and with her big film debut coming up in The Marvels, Iman Vellani has a bright future ahead of herself in and out of the MCU.
And finally, we have Blue Beetle! While he is a legacy character by name, he becomes Blue Beetle AFTER Ted Kord dies in comics, similar to Miles and Peter Parker. He carries the weight and legacy of a hero he never knew, and tries to do it his own way.
That is something audiences are loving right now, and Blue Beetle can tell a similar story.
and finally...
4. Xolo Maridueña is Perfect
You think I'm overselling him, but I'm not.
If you don't know his name yet, you will soon. As the star of Cobra Kai, Xolo plays Miguel, a kid from nowhere trying to live up to the legacy of man he deems great. If that isn't Jaime, I don't know what is.
Xolo plays every role he has with heart, charm, and has comedic timing to beat. As one of its leads, Xolo helped take Cobra Kai from a YouTube Red Series to one of Netflix's BIGGEST Shows.
And at only 22, he is young enough to play a late teen, and to be in this role for years to come.
In Marvel talk, we can very much be looking at DC's Tom Holland, and Blue Beetle could be Spider-Man Homecoming.
The bottomline is, I am beyond stoked for Blue Beetle, and as a Latinx fan, I know I'm gonna be there day 1, rooting for its success.
I hope to look back on this 10 years later, as the Justice League unite with Jaime up there with em, three movies under Xolo's belt, a fan favorite, with more to come.
If you'd like to support me you can:
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Words borrowed from other languages in English
Very incomplete list, based mostly on The Languages of the World (3rd ed.), Kenneth Katzner, 2002 + a heavy use of Wiktionary. some notes:
Many of these words have passed through multiple languages on their way to English (e.g. Persian -> Arabic -> Spanish -> French -> English); in that case I usually list them under the first language that used them in the same acception as English.
I generally don't include words whose ancestors already existed in Middle English, unless their origin was exotic enough to be interesting.
The vast majority of borrowings are terms very specific to their culture of origin; I generally only include those that are either very well known amng English-speakers, or of general use outside that culture.
INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY (West and South Eurasia)
Hellenic
Greek: angel, chronometer, democracy, encyclopedia, geography, graphic, hieroglyphic, homogeneous, hydraulic, meter, microscope, monarchy, philosophy, phobia, photography, telephone, and way too many other scientific or technical terms to count
Germanic
Afrikaans: aardvark, apartheid, fynbos, rooibos, springbok, trek, veld, wildebeest
Danish: Lego, simper
Dutch: brandy, bumpkin, coleslaw, cookie, deck, dock, dollar, landscape, freight, furlough, maelstrom, noodle, Santa Claus, waffle, walrus, yacht
German: aurochs, bildungsroman, blitzkrieg, cobalt, dachsund, eigenvector, ersatz, gestalt, hamburger, hinterland, kindergarten, kohlrabi, lager, poodle, quark, sauerkraut, wanderlust, yodel, zeitgeist
Icelandic: eider, geyser
Norwegian: auk, fjord, krill, lemming, narwhal, slalom, troll
Swedish: lek, mink, ombudsman, rutabaga, smorgasbord, tungsten
Yiddish: bupkis, chutzpah, kvetch, putz, schlemiel, schmaltz, schmooze, schtick, spiel, tchotchke
Slavic
Czech: robot
Russian: fedora, glasnost, intelligentsia, kefir, mammoth, pogrom, samizdat, steppe, sputnik, troika, tsar, vodka
Serbo-Croat: cravat, paprika
Celtic [many of these words are shared between the two languages]
Irish: bog, galore, gaol, geas, glen, orrery, shamrock, slob, whiskey
Scottish Gaelic: bard, bunny, cairn, clan, loch, ptarmigan, ?scone, slogan
Italic-Romance
†Latin: [way too many]
French: [way too many]
Italian: allegro, aria, balcony, bandit, bravo, calamari, casino, chiaroscuro, crescendo, contrapposto, fresco, gazette, ghetto, gusto, inferno, lava, mafia, malaria, pants, quarantine, tempo, umbrella, vendetta, volcano
Portuguese: baroque, brocade, cachalot, cobra, creole, flamingo, petunia, pimento, zebra
Spanish: abalone, armadillo, bolas, bonanza, canyon, cargo, chupacabra, cigar, cilantro, embargo, gaucho, guerrilla, junta, manta, mesa, mustang, patio, pueblo, rodeo, siesta, tornado, vanilla
Iranian
Persian: bazaar, caravan, checkmate, chess, crimson, dervish, divan, jackal, jasmine, khaki, kiosk, lemon, lilac, musk, orange, pajama, paradise, satrap, shawl, taffeta
Indo-Aryan
†Sanskrit: brahmin, Buddha, chakra, guru, karma, mantra, opal, swastika, yoga
Bengali: dinghy, jute, nabob
Hindi: bandana, bungalow, cheetah, chintz, chutney, coolie, cot, dungaree, juggernaut, lacquer, loot, rajah, pundit, shampoo, tom-tom, thug, veranda
Marathi: mongoose
Romani: hanky-panky, pal, shiv
Sinhalese: anaconda, beriberi, serendipity, tourmaline
DRAVIDIAN FAMILY (Southern India)
Kannada: bamboo
Malayalam: atoll, calico, copra, jackfruit, mahogany, mango, pagoda, teak
Tamil: curry, mulligatawny, pariah
Telugu: bandicoot
URALIC FAMILY (Northern Eurasia)
Finnic
Finnish: sauna
Saami: tundra
Samoyedic
Nenets: parka
Ugric
Hungarian: biro, coach, goulash, hussar, puszta, tokay
VASCONIC FAMILY (Northern Pirenees)
Basque: chaparral, chimichurri, silhouette
TURKIC FAMILY (Central Eurasia)
†Old Turkic: cossack, yurt
Tatar: ?stramonium
Turkish: baklava, balaclava, bergamot, caftan, caviar, harem, janissary, kebab, kismet, minaret, pastrami, sherbet, tulip, yoghurt
Yakut: taiga
MONGOLIC FAMILY (Mongolia and surrounding areas)
Mongol: horde, khan, ?valerian
SINO-TIBETAN FAMILY (China and Southeast Asia)
Tibeto-Burman
Tibetan: lama, panda, tulpa, yak, yeti
Sinitic [Chinese languages closely related, not always clear from which a borrowing comes]
Hokkien: ?ketchup, sampan, tea
Mandarin: chi, dao, dazibao, gung-ho, kaolin, oolong, shaolin, shanghai, yin-yang
Min Nan: nunchaku
Yue (Cantonese): chop suey, dim sum, kowtow, kumquat, lychee, shar-pei, ?typhoon, wok
TUNGUSIC FAMILY (Eastern Siberia)
Evenki: pika, shaman
KOREANIC FAMILY (Koreas)
Korean: bulgogi, chaebol, hantavirus, kimchi, taekwondo
JAPONIC FAMILY (Japan)
Japanese: banzai, bonsai, dojo, emoji, geisha, ginkgo, hikikomori, honcho, ikebana, kamikaze, karaoke, koi, kudzu, manga, origami, pachinko, rickshaw, sake, samurai, sensei, soy, sushi, tofu, tsunami, tycoon, zen
AUSTRONESIAN FAMILY (maritime Southeast Asia and Oceania)
Western Malayan
Javanese: ?junk [ship]
Malay: amok, cockatoo, compound [building], cootie, durian, kapok, orangutan, paddy, pangolin, rattan, sarong
Barito
Malagasy: raffia
Phlippinic
Cebuano: dugong
Ilocano: yo-yo
Tagalog: boondocks
Oceanic
Hawai'ian: aloha, hula, luau, poi, wiki
Maori: kauri, kiwi, mana, weta
Marshallese: bikini
Tahitian: pareo, tattoo
Tongan: taboo
TRANS-NEW GUINEAN FAMILY (New Guinea)
Fore: kuru
PAMA-NYUNGAN FAMILY (Australia)
Dharug: boomerang, corroboree, dingo, koala, wallaby, wobbegong, wombat, woomera
Guugu Yimithirr: kangaroo, quoll
Nyungar: dunnart, gidgee, quokka
Pitjantjatjara: Uluru
Wathaurong: bunyip
Wiradjuri: kookaburra
Yagara: dilly bag
AFRO-ASIATIC FAMILY (North Africa and Near East)
Coptic: adobe
Berber
Tachelhit: argan
Semitic
†Punic: Africa
Arabic: albatross, alchemy, alcohol, alcove, alfalfa, algebra, alkali, amber, arsenal, assassin, candy, coffee, cotton, elixir, gazebo, gazelle, ghoul, giraffe, hashish, harem, magazine, mattress, monsoon, sofa, sugar, sultan, syrup, tabby, tariff, zenith, zero
Hebrew: amen, behemoth, cabal, cherub, hallelujah, kibbutz, kosher, manna, myrrh, rabbi, sabbath, Satan, seraph, shibboleth
NIGER-CONGO FAMILY (Subsaharan Africa)
unknown: cola, gorilla, tango
Senegambian
Wolof: banana, fonio, ?hip, ?jigger [parasite], karite, ?jive, yam
Gur-Adamawa
Ngbandi: Ebola
Kwa
Ewe: voodoo
Volta-Niger
Igbo: okra
Yoruba: gelee [headgear], mambo, oba, orisha
Cross River
Ibibio: calypso
Bantu
Lingala: basenji
Kikongo: ?chimpanzee, ?macaque, ?zombie
Kimbundu: ?banjo, Candomblé, gumbo, macumba, tanga
Swahili: askari, Jenga, kwanzaa, safari
Xhosa: Ubuntu
Zulu: impala, mamba, vuvuzela
KHOE-KWADI FAMILY (Southwest Africa)
Khoekhoe (Hottentot): gnu, kudu, quagga
ESKIMO-ALEUT FAMILY (Arctic America)
Greenlandic Inuit: igloo, kayak
Inuktikut: nunatak
ALGIC FAMILY (Eastern Canada and northeast USA)
†Proto-Algonquin: moccasin, opossum, skunk
Cree: muskeg, pemmican
Mikmaq: caribou, toboggan
Montagnais: husky
Narragansett: ?powwow, sachem
Ojibwe: chipmunk, totem, wendigo, woodchuck
Powhatan: persimmon, raccoon
SALISHAN FAMILY (Pacific coast at the USA-Canada border)
Chehalis: chinook
Halkomelem: sasquatch
Lushootseed: geoduck
IROQUOIAN FAMILY (Eastern North America)
Cherokee: sequoia
SIOUAN FAMILY (Central USA)
Lakota: teepee
MUSKOGEAN FAMILY (Southeast USA)
Choctaw: bayou
UTO-AZTECAN FAMILY (Southwest USA and north Mexico)
Nahuatl: atlatl, avocado, chili, cocoa, coyote, chocolate, guacamole, hoazin, mesquite, ocelot, quetzal, tamale, tegu, tomato
O'odham (Pima): jojoba
Shoshone: chuckwalla
Yaqui: ?saguaro
MAYAN FAMILY (Southern Mexico and Guatemala)
Yucatec Maya: cenote, Chicxulub
ARAWAKAN FAMILY (Caribbeans and South America)
†Taino: barbecue, cannibal, canoe, cassava, cay, guava, hammock, hurricane, iguana, maize, manatee, mangrove, maroon, potato, savanna, tobacco
Arawak: papaya
CARIBAN FAMILY (Caribbean coast of South America)
unknown: curare
Galibi Carib: caiman, chigger, pawpaw, peccary, yucca
QUECHUAN FAMILY (Andes)
Quechua: ?Andes, caoutchouc, coca, condor, guano, llama, mate, poncho, puma, quinine, vicuna
AYMARAN FAMILY (Andes)
Aymara: alpaca, chinchilla
TUPIAN FAMILY (Brazil)
[borrowings are often shared between these two languages]
†Old Tupi: ananas, arowana, Cayenne [pepper], jaguar, manioc, piranha, tapioca
Guarani: cougar, maracuja, Paraguay, petunia, toucan
CREOLE LANGUAGES (worldwide, mixed origin)
English-derived
Chinese Pidgin English: chopstick, long time no see, pidgin, taipan
Jamaican Creole: dreadlocks, reggae
Chinook-derived
Chinook Jargon: potlatch
EDIT 08-01-24: added lots more examples, especially African, Asian, and North American languages. Still not done.
EDIT 17-01-24: finished adding examples, more or less.
EDIT: 18-02-24: apparently not (cheetah).
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—OC DETAILS MEME ;; @shivasdarknight: 🎶💯 for all of your girls .o.
🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often? (also asked by @bornfornothin!)
💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.
this post already got super long so some of it will go under the cut
Terrah
🎶MUSIC TASTES— She's the kind of woman to end her day with her record player, spinning vinyls until the wee hours of the evening to bedtime. While she's sketching out new machine designs or writing up new reports, she's listening to music. I'd say in a given day, she's spending 60% of it listening to music.
Favorite Sound Profiles: Sensual, Rhythmic, Solid Vocals
Favorite Genres: R&B (70-2010s), Hip-Hop (70-90s), Country (70s-80s)
Music on her "Liked Playlist":
✦ Tennessee Whiskey - Chris Stapleton
✦ Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
✦ Me & Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul
✦ You Dropped a Bomb on Me - The Gap Band
✦ I'm Every Woman - Chaka Khan
💯RANDOM FACTS
✦ As I mentioned in a previous post, Terrah is terrifyingly good at putting apart, fixing, & destroying anything mechanical. This is primarily for equipment that she can get her hands on, and more for those with explicit mechanical components like in a car or fridge.
✦ Because of her deft hands, when she was still in college, she started a side hustle fixing other people's cars or computers. From the circuit board to the full system, she found a solution to the problem and charged a hefty amount.
✦ On the flip side of this, she's not computer savvy. She's not a programmer or even on social media that much. She's good with the CAD programs & analytical tools she has to use for work, but anything IT-related? Ask someone else because she won't be the woman to figure that out.
Lilah
🎶MUSIC TASTES— Funnily enough, I don't think Lilah actually listens to music that often, as she's more likely to consume a podcast or watch a TV show over listening to a song. She does occasionally put on music while she's writing. She much prefers going to a live concert. On a given day, Lilah is probably spending 30% of that day listening to music.
Favorite Sound Profiles: Angry, Boisterous, Genre-Bending
Favorite Genres: Pop (2000-2010s), Indie (2000-2020s), Rock (90s-2020s), Lo-Fi/Instrumental (2000-2020)
Music on her "Liked Playlist":
✦ Girlfriend - hemlock springs
✦ Good 4 You - Olivia Rodrigo
✦ Cobra - Megan Thee Stallion
✦ Bitter - FLETCHER
✦ Phonies - Dorian Electra
💯RANDOM FACTS
✦ Due to growing up in a small town that was hyper-fixated on her appearance & mere existence, Lilah occasionally has anxiety attacks if she feels like a lot of eyes are on her. She doesn't like to be stared at by strangers, and if there's a creeping feeling that she's being followed, it will trigger a panic attack. Ironic, given her dream profession.
✦ After she got herself established in her career, Lilah is just prone to taking spontaneous road trips to herself - only taking her sachel, money, a book, and an idea. She would then take that as a 2-week sabbatical where she'd write up a new novel in that timespan and bring it back to the world.
✦ All of Lilah's novels are short reads (~60-70K words a piece), and they all explore aspects of her understanding of life & love. She's self-published, normally posting her books under her pseudonym. All of the books tell her story at different intervals, and if someone knew her, they could read it and know that these "fictional, coming of age" stories were about her.
Avian
🎶MUSIC TASTES— Although melancholy seems to follow Avian's aura, her music speaks differently to that. While she's working the night shift, she has her headphones ringing more upbeat, optimistic music. While her tastes are varied, they do lean more towards older tunes and music that touch on some gospel with strong vocals. These are also tunes that Avian's dancing through during the night as she's organizing medication. In a day, about 70% of Avian's time is spent listening to music.
Favorite Sound Profiles: Soulful, Strong Instrumentals, Old School
Favorite Genres: R&B (60-90s), Blues (50-70s), Folk (50-80s), Jazz (40s-2010s), Gospel (90s-2010s)
Music on her "Liked Playlist":
✦ FREEDOM - Jon Baptise
✦ My Way - Aloe Blacc
✦ Easy Living - Billie Holiday
✦ Into Each Life, Some Rain Must Fall - Ella Fitzgerald, The Ink Spots
✦ Hound Dog - Big Mama Thorton
💯RANDOM FACTS
✦ Avian is classically trained in ballroom dancing thanks to her dad - it was one of the few activities he got her into so she didn't become a complete shut-in. Specifically, Avian can swing dance, waltz, and foxtrot. Avian enjoyed the dancing part but did not enjoy the part with her weird partners hitting on her afterward.
✦ Avian is "technically" religious but in a spiritual way. James never forced her to go to church with him but did guide her to learn how to use religion that best suited her & her lifestyle. She didn't buy into religion much until her father passed away, and so she leans into spirituality as a way to keep herself sane. I wouldn't consider her a bible humper, but Avian does wear a cross of Christ as her own grounding point.
✦ Because of her previous dance experience, Avian is a lot more quick-witted than a lot of people give her credit for. This was shown once when she got to step in for an intramural sport in high school. Her friend pushed her to play softball for a game against another school and Avian killed it. It was the one time a group was begging Avian to stay on the softball team but she said no because Avian didn't like sports.
Elvira
🎶MUSIC TASTES— Elvira rarely listens to music, and if she does, it's typically in between flights or trains she's on as she's traveling. She doesn't dislike music, per se, but she's one of the few people who rather sit with her own thoughts than let them be flooded by music. She's a very passive listener, and she may put it on in the background if she's cleaning or cooking, but again, she may prioritize listening to the news or putting a TV show on. Most music to Ivy is supposed to be played at a party, anyway. About 20% of her day is spent listening to music.
Favorite Sound Profiles: Boisterious, Goofy, Rhythm Over Lyrics
Favorite Genres: Rap/Hip Hop (80-2020s), Reggae/Soca (90-2000s)
Music on her "Liked Playlist":
✦ Rock, Paper, Strippers - Teezo Touchdown
✦ Fye Fye - Tobe Nwigwe
✦ Murder She Wrote - Chaka Demus & Pliers
✦ So Special - Mavado
✦ Here Comes Trouble - Chronixx
💯RANDOM FACTS
✦ A lot of Ivy's current black/gothic style was inspired by her mother; Ivy grew up looking over the old Polaroids of her mother and her long black locs & black lipstick idolizing how powerful she looked in those old pictures. Because of this, that has influenced a lot of Ivy's current wardrobe. She actually locs her own hair in honor of her mother.
✦ Ivy transitioned early thanks to her mother's support. After Ivy's father left their lives, her mother took pride in her child's choice and assisted in giving Ivy the life she wanted. This required Ivy to transfer schools so she could start with a clean slate, but by the time Ivy was 13, she could start living her true self.
✦ Ivy has been arrested a handful of times, but never charged. This was mostly throughout her young adulthood, as she was often the one stepping into fights to break them up to protect other people. She has gotten lucky that her connections ran deep with good people to avoid the actual time, but the old Manchester police department likely knows Ivy by name, and they're waiting on the day she falls back to rock bottom.
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