Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)

Jaime Reyes is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner, the character made his first appearance in Infinite Crisis #3 (February 2006). While being the third character to assume the Blue Beetle codename, the character is substantially different from his predecessors, being of Mexican-American origin and empowered through a sentient, armored suit of alien origin.

Beginning as a high-school teenager from El Paso, Jaime would find himself bonded with an ancient scarab embedded into his spine, being the same one once discovered and used by Dan Garret. With the scarab having both magical and extraterrestial connections from ancient Egypt and being technology derived from aliens known as the Reach respectively, Jaime would embark on the life of a superhero, often guided and mentored by his predecessor, Ted Kord. In more recent publications, the character has also evolved into a college-aged student. Blue Beetle often appears most notably as a member of the Teen Titans but has served in various Justice League-derivative teams.

Blue Beetle has appeared in various media outside comics. Will Friedle, Eric Lopez, Jake T. Austin, and others have voiced the character in animated television series and films. Jaren Brandt Bartlett portrayed the character in a 2011 episode of the television series Smallville, and Xolo Maridueña portrayed the character in the 2023 live-action film Blue Beetle, set in the DC Extended Universe, and will continue to play the character in the rebooted DC Universe (DCU) franchise, beginning with the film Man of Tomorrow (2027).