Blue Beetle, Booster Gold & the Question

With lesser-known characters like Elongated Man and Gypsy now an important part of the CW’s Arrowverse shows, the possibility of two other much-loved DC heroes joining the ever-growing roster was raised again with Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim. His response confirmed that both Team Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow could have had a different team member, and that the future might still possibly see Blue Beetle and Booster Gold appear.



Booster Gold first appeared in DC comics in 1986, and has the civilian identity of Michael Jon Carter. Although he possesses no powers, he originates from 25th Century Earth and owns stolen gadgets from that era as well as the useful future knowledge. Starting as a glory-seeking jerk, he learns to become more heroic and noble as he adjusts to his new superhero status. Unlike Booster, Blue Beetle has several incarnations, including Dan Garrett and most recently Jaime Reyes, who merged with alien technology and became a Teen Titan. Arguably the most well-known Beetle though is Ted Kord, a Bruce Wayne-like figure who was inspired to use his engineering genius to fight crime.



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In the comics the two became best friends, and had plenty of wacky story arcs in the late 1980s/early 1990s version of Justice League from writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis. This led to the classic Blue & Gold team-ups, and a tone which would make them a natural fit for the Arrowverse. During a recent panel session at ACE Comic Con in Long Island, Comicbook reports that a fan directly asked Guggenheim if those characters were ever considered for Arrow or its sister shows. The showrunner gave this response:



“I will say, both those characters [Booster Gold and Blue Beetle] are characters we’ve talked about. Originally Ray Palmer, who was introduced on Arrow, he was supposed to be Ted Kord and we went another way. So, you know, Booster and Blue Beetle, all the ‘B’ characters really, we’re always talking about but nothing I can announce or speak to at the moment.”



Stephen Amell Arrow Arrow Showrunner Says Blue Beetle & Booster Gold Have Been Considered for the Show



It’s generally an open secret to fans of Arrow that Palmer (Brandon Routh) replaced an intended Kord, so the Legends could have theoretically had Beetle instead of The Atom on the Waverider. But the character and Kord Industries has definitely been mentioned in the past on those shows, so he does exist on Earth-1. On the other hand in comics continuity Rip Hunter is actually the future son of Booster as well as his mentor, so that could provide a way to introduce him on that show as well. Whilst it may never happen, it’s interesting to note that Guggenheim had a ready answer and that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are clearly still on his radar.



In the meantime, there were reports about a Booster Gold movie being written last year, and a buddy-movie for both heroes was in development the year before that. Neither one of those projects have moved on though, and certainly aren’t any part of the DCEU at the moment. However, Booster and Jamie Reye’s Blue Beetle did appear in Season 10 of Smallville in 2011. So although there is no sign of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold in the Arrowverse at the moment, it’s certainly not impossible that fans will see them in future seasons on one of the shows.

Many DC Characters have been woven into the Arrowverse over the seasons, but for Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim there is one specific character he really wants to make an appearance.



During the DCTV panel at ACE Comic Con in Long Island today, Guggenheim talked about how the crossover "Crisis on Earth-X" included new characters, such as The Ray from the CW Seed series Freedom Fighters: The Ray. When Guggenheim was asked about other characters he'd like to see come to Arrow, the showrunner had an unsurprising answer: The Question.





"I've made no secret of the fact one day I would love to see The Question on Arrow," Guggenheim said. "I think The Question is just tailor made for Arrow. I've always felt that."



The Question is a character that Guggenheim has long been vocal about wanting to bring to Arrow. He even went so far as to tease the idea of Team Arrow paying a visit to Hub City, hometown of Question, whose real name is Vic Sage, last season in a cryptic Tweet last year. The character, who in comics is an aggressive journalist taking on stories no one will touch while using his alter-ego to get answers outside of the law, is similar to Green Arrow in that they both have histories of going after their cities' corrupt underbelly. That tease ultimately didn't connect to the fifth season and while The Question has yet to make his appearance, Guggenheim did point out how they've incorporated many of the other characters on his list.



"You know, I will say, you know, we're in the sixth year of doing these things," he said. "What's amazing to me is all the characters that were on our bucket list we've seen, we've done a version of and that's really like, I've always wanted to get Vigilante on Arrow and we did that last year and, but there's so many characters and there's a couple of other characters who are on my list. Every time I see Geoff Johns you know we're like 'how about this character?' or 'how about that character?' and we've been really, really lucky we've had a chance to you know, even you know name checking people like we name checked Bruce Wayne for the first time, we name checked Themyscira, and DC's been really kind with letting us be mischievous that way. They've allowed us to put in our little fanboy Easter eggs."



With Arrow and the rest of the Arrowverse on winter hiatus, there's still plenty of episodes left for even more "fanboy Easter eggs," though fans will have to wait until Arrow returns in January to see just what else Guggenheim has in store.