
Depending on who you ask, Blue Beetle may be the first entry in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Cinematic Universe. That would make Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) the rebooted franchise’s first hero, but one could be forgiven for not knowing that. Over the course of its 127-minute runtime, the movie makes very few specific allusions to the state of the greater DCU. A few comments are made here and there about Superman and Batman, but otherwise, Blue Beetle is one of the more self-contained live-action superhero films that Warner Bros. has released in some time.