The new Blue Beetle film hits theaters on August 18, but what many might not know or remember is the first time that Jaime Reyes a.k.a. the Blue Beetle appeared in live action.
“Oh yeah, he was in the ‘Booster’ episode of Smallville,” you might exclaim. That’s true, but it’s not the first live-action appearance. That “first time” would be in test footage prepared as a proof of concept for a possible Blue Beetle TV project back in 2010.
The short was directed by Alex Winter, perhaps best known for his live-action role as Bill S. Preston Esq. in the Bill & Ted films, who also is a quite prolific director with over 40 directing credits to his nam,e including multiple Ben 10 movies. Winter was quoted at the time as saying Blue Beetle would be “a wicked live-action project.”
DC’s Geoff Johns, who wrote the Smallville “Booster” episode, teased the footage before it came out, and ultimately, it was shown at Comic-Con in 2010, soon before the announcement was made that Jaime would be in a Smallville episode with Booster Gold. Unfortunately, Smallville’s take on Blue Beetle wasn’t as good as their Booster was, and looked more like a blue Iron Man. While some fans hoped for a Booster Gold spinoff that inevitably would also feature Jaime, it was not meant to be. Despite Smallville’s success, DC superheroes were limited to just one show until Mark Pedowitz took over at The CW, as previous leader Dawn Ostroff was more interested in shows featuring the romances of rich girls.
You can see the original Blue Beetle transformation sequence below. If you’re curious, the uncredited actor playing Jaime/Blue Beetle in this footage is Garrett Plotkin. Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña will be playing the role in the highly-anticipated Blue Beetle film.
As a bonus, here’s the Blue Beetle on Smallville…
And the trailer for Warner Bros. Pictures’ Blue Beetle which hits theaters this week!
