Blue Beetle's DCU Return Gets Exciting Update From Xolo Maridueña

The long-awaited return of Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle may be happening sooner than fans expected. The actor, who made his debut as the young DC superhero in Blue Beetle, recently shared the release window for the upcoming animated continuation of the 2023 movie.

Maridueña spoke with The Direct at last night's Saturn Awards, where he revealed that he was hoping for the Blue Beetle animated series, which will be set in James Gunn's DC Universe, to premiere in 2026. "I'm ready to come back. We're hitting hard this animated project, hoping to get this settled out this year to show everyone next year," the actor shared. Story details for the animated continuation, which was announced last June, remain under wraps. Blue Beetle director Ángel Manuel Soto and writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer are attached as executive producers on the project, with Christian Martinez writing the series and Miguel Puga serving as showrunner and director.

Blue Beetle's Live-Action Future Also Gets an Update

Maridueña — who won the Saturn Award for Best Young Performer in a Television Series for his role in Cobra Kai — also addressed whether he was itching to reprise the role of Jaime Reyes in live-action. Unfortunately, it didn't sound like he had had that conversation with DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn just yet, with the actor sharing, "Look, he's [Gunn] got his hands in his kitchen. I don't want to walk in while the chef is doing his thing. But I can say that once they're finished with this three-course meal, I'm ready."

He added, "And look, I have no reason to believe that he's lying. Like, whatever, we're adults, say whatever you want to say! [laughs] I'm just happy to have done this first one and I'll continue to spread the word about that while we get the second one drafted up."

Although the DCU is a clean break from the DC Extended Universe, the forthcoming universe is still loosely connected to what came before it, even if nothing from the old universe is 100% canon in the new timeline. With Creature Commandos Season 1 referencing or mentioning events that occurred in the DCEU (such as Rick Flag Jr.'s death in The Suicide Squad), Gunn took to social media in January 2025 to re-explain how the new canon works.

"Rick Flag Jr was killed because we heard Rick Flag Sr talking about it in Creature Commandos, not because we saw it in The Suicide Squad," Gunn wrote, adding that fans should consider Peacemaker Season 1 and The Suicide Squad as "an imperfect memory" in the DCU. By this logic, it means that even though the 2023 Blue Beetle movie itself won't be canon to the DCU, if the animated series mentions Jaime's battle with OMAC from the movie, then that event also occurred in the DCU.

The Blue Beetle animated series is targeting a 2026 release.

Source: The Direct