Blue Beetle (DC Extended Universe)

:NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Blue Beetle from the DC Extended Universe. The mainstream version can be found here: Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes).
 
Jaime Reyes, also known as Blue Beetle, is the titular main protagonist of the 2023 film . He is a college graduate who became bonded with Khaji-Da, a biotechnological alien scarab that manifests as a weaponized suit of armor, transforming him into a superhero. 
He was portrayed by Xolo Maridueña, who also played Miguel Diaz in Cobra Kai.
==History==
=== Background ===
Jaime was born in 2001 to Alberto and Rocio Reyes. He grew up in Palmera City with his younger sister Milagro. Upon graduating high school, Jaime left Palmora City to attend Gotham Law University.
===Blue Beetle===
After graduating from Gotham Law University, Jaime returned to Palmera City only to learn that his family is being evicted due to financial difficulties. Milagro gets him a part-time job as a servant at the Kord's mansion, but he gets fired for stopping an argument between the Kord CEO Victoria and her niece Jenny. To make up for it, Jenny offers Jaime a job at Kord Industries and tells him to come by tomorrow for an interview. Jaime arrives at Kord Industries the following day, only to find Jenny hiding from the workers. When he tries to ask her about the job she offered him, Jenny gives him a Big Belly Burger delivery box she was smuggling but warns him not to open it. 
Jaime takes the box home and his family urges him to open it anyway. The box reveals an ancient alien relic called the Scarab that Jenny had stolen from her aunt. While Jaime's family members start playing keep away with the Scarab, Jaime eventually snatches it from them, accidentally activating the Scarab. The Scarab then latches itself onto Jaime's back and transforms into a weaponized suit of armor around his body that flies him away with no control, accidentally slicing a bus in half. When Jaime finally comes back, he learned that the Scarab is called Khaji-Da and it's a powerful government weapon. When he brings Jenny over and shows her the Scarab attached to his back, she explains she didn't know this would happen as Khaji-Da can only attach itself to one specific person it chooses. 
To find a solution for removal, she takes Jaime and his uncle Rudy to break into her father's old lab. On their way, they are attacked by Victoria's right-hand man Ignacio Carapax, forcing Khaji-Da to emerge and protect Jaime. Carapax then transforms into his own weaponized suit of armor called "the OMAC" and fights Jaime. When Jaime stops Khaji-Da from killing Carapax, Carapax mocks him for not taking the chance to kill him and beats him down. Fortunately, Alberto rams his car into Carapax knocking him into the river and saving Jaime. As they break in, Rudy learns that Jenny's father Ted Kord, the previous host of Khaji-Da, was a superhero called Blue Beetle who disappeared as a result of being wanted by Victoria. They also learn that Khaji-Da can't be removed from Jaime's back without killing him because it's become a part of him as a result. As Jaime starts dwelling about being a cyborg for the rest of his life, he finds out Kord Industries had taken the rest of his family hostage. He transforms into Blue Beetle and flies to rescue his family, where he engages with Carapax a second time. Carapax furthers mocks Jaime's love for his family, calling it a "weakness". As Jaime fights off Carapax and the rest of Kord Industries agents, Alberto suddenly dies of a heart attack. Jaime runs towards his father, but is incapitated and captured by Victoria.
Taken to Kord Industries, Victoria gloats to Jaime about her plans to upload Khaji-Da into the OMAC so she can create an army of OMAC exoskeletons soldiers to terrorize the world. As she starts the uploading process, Jaime finds himself in a vision with his late father telling him it's not his time to die yet and encouraging him to embrace the Khaji-Da and be a superhero. Jaime wants his father to come with him, but Alberto says his time has already come. Jaime then flies after the floating Blue Beetle suit and rebonds with it, allowing him to awaken and escape with help from one of Victoria's scientists. He leads his family to safety and reboots the Khaji-Da to full power to fight off Kord's Industries agents. He learns that Victoria took Jenny aboard her helicopter and tries to rescue her, but is attacked by Carapax again. When Carapax starts to overpower Jaime again, Rudy gets his attention only for Carapax to fire and seemingly kill him. Enraged at his uncle's "death", Jaime breaks out, curbstomps Carapax to a pulp and nearly kills him with the armor's blades. Fortunately, Khaji-Da stops him in time, having learned from Jaime's previous statement that he's not a killer. It then shows Jaime Carapax's suppressed memories as a child soldier who was captured by Victoria after the death of his mother and weaponized against his will. Jaime eventually spares Carapax, but corrects him that his love for his family is in fact the source of his strength. Carapax then betrays Victoria and blows up the OMAC killing both of them while Jaime and Jenny escape. They reunite with Jaime's family and find out Rudy survived Carapax's attack. 
The next day, Jaime meets Jenny outside where she tells him she is now CEO of Kord Industries and made the company atone of her aunt's crimes. They finally kiss and become a couple, with Khaji-Da teasing Jaime by reporting "a rush of blood in his mid-region".
==Personality==
Jaime is a newly graduated college student who dreams about going to law school one day. However, he is conflicted in doing so because of the threats causing his family's misfortune, mainly their financial problems. Like most superheroes Jaime has a strict "no-kill" policy as he has to insist to the Khaji-Da to list non-lethal options. While he was initially willing to kill OMAC during their fight, the Scarab talked him out of it. 
He also has a close relationship with his sister, Milagro. Jaime also learns a sense of responsibility when using his powers. These are mainly influenced by his uncle, Rudy, who believed that is the universe has given him a gift with the powers that come with the scarab and Jaime is the one who figures out how to use it responsibly. It is ultimately Jaime's love for his family that makes him the strongest. Because of his family, Jaime is supported by his family to be a true hero. 
==Powers and abilities==
===Powers===
* Khaji-Da capabilities: When discovering the scarab, it activates and jumps onto Jaime as he had potential in being a host to bond itself to. After syncing to his body, the A.I. Khaji-Da ran autopilot mode through trial phases to test the armor to function offensive and defensive measures over the symbiotic relationship. However when going into battle, the A.I. had control over Jaime’s intentions for his experience and lack of skill with it didn’t possess a handle on the power yet until later on after his father died and he was drained of the energy he temporarily enters Limbo to accept his lost and to connect with Khaji-Da fully becoming one with their bond.
** Transformation: The suit is symbiotically integrated to it’s host body and cells which allows Jaime to assemble the armor over himself by thought or the A.I. automatically activates it for protection when endangered.
*** Superhuman Strength: The armor provides him with higher feats of strength when he fights against armed guards Jaime is able to deliver punches/kicks that blows threats several feet away and flip to a wall.
*** Superhuman Speed: In addition to increasing his strength, the suit also provides near-invulnerability that he can crush land onto vehicles or surfaces without sustaining any injuries.
*** Superhuman Durability: By activating the thrusters of his suit, Jaime Reyes can travel long distances, such as going into space in a matter of minutes, as he also demonstrated when he instantly arrived from the Kord Estate to the Reyes Residence to save his family.
*** Superhuman Agility: Using his suit and under the control of Khaji-Da, Jaime is extremely agile in combat, being able to dodge shots from Kord Industries soldiers with great ease.
*** Superhuman reflexes: Jaime's reaction time is greatly augmented by the scarab, which allowed him to catch a punch thrown at Jenny by Carapax without even trying.
*** Electrokinesis: The armor has the power to generate and manipulate electrokinetic energy which can empower Jaime when activated. It allows him to control and project significant beams of electricity for attacks channeling through the weapons he wields for a more unique efficiency. When Jaime becomes enraged after Carapax seemingly killed Rudy, though he survived, during the final battle, he blasts a powerful electrokinetic discharge at Carapax.
*** Regenerative healing factor: With the suit being bonded to Jaime’s own DNA, it grants his cells regeneration properties to heal fast from damage as the scars on his face quickly stitched together in a day.
*** Flight: The suit’s thrusters produce high speed that can propel Rayes to fly across cities or outer space in mere minutes.
*** Construct Creation: While wearing his armor, Jaime can construct any tool or weapon he can imagine. He usually transforms his hands into non-lethal concussive cannons or staple launchers to pin his enemies. During his final battle against Carapax, he had the scarab create a Buster Sword, and soon a stinger when he was about to kill Carapax in a rage after he seemingly killed his uncle.
*** Enhanced Sight: The armor enhances Jaime's vision allowing him to see from far greater distances.
=== Abilities ===
* Bilingualism: As a native Mexican-American, Jaime is fluent in both English and Spanish.
* Expert combatant: Despite being controlled by Khaji-Da when fighting, Jaime proved capable of giving strategic battles on his own by imagining his attack weapons, as he did when fighting Ignacio Carapax or fighting the Kord Industries soldiers on Pago Island.
==Relationships==
===Family===
*Nana Reyes - grandmother
*Rudy Reyes - uncle
*Alberto Reyes † - father
*Rocio Reyes - mother
*Milagro Reyes - sister
===Allies===
*Kord Industries
**Jenny Kord - girlfriend
*Khaji-Da - scarab
*Sanchez † - savior and former enemy
*Ignacio Carapax/OMAC † - attempted killer and attempted victim turned savior 
===Enemies===
*Victoria Kord † - attempted killer
==Trivia==
* This is the live-action debut of the Blue Beetle in a feature film.
* In the comics, Jaime is traditionally a teenager when he became the Blue Beetle. However, in the DC Extended Universe, Jaime is at a college level age
* This is the second live-action adaptation of Jaime Reyes, after the incarnation portrayed by Jaren Brandt Bartlett in Smallville.
* Xolo Maridueña as Blue Beetle will be one of the few castings that will remain the same in James Gunn's upcoming DC Universe reboot.
==Gallery==
Blue-Beetle-2023.jpg
File:Jaime Reyes unmasked - Blue Beetle.png|Jaime Reyes reconciles with Ignacio Carapax
File:Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes poster.webp
File:Blue Beetle Movie poster.png
==External Links==
*Blue Beetle at the DC Extended Universe Wiki
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