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Warning - This post contains SPOILERS for Blue Beetle
James Gunn promisedDCfans that The Flash movie would reset the DCU by saying goodbye to the old extended universe (including the SnyderVerse) and ushering in a new interconnected world. However, we’re still unsure which live-action characters will be a part of this new frontier, but one hero that is along for the ride is Jaime Reyes.
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Blue Beetle has already received positive reviews from its early screenings, and the movie will see the first Latino superhero in a leading role. But before we are properly introduced to the superhero, let’s take a look at the powers that made him. Here’s everything you need to know about the Khaji Da Scarab.
Blue Beetle’s Khaji Da Scarab Explained
In the 2023 movie, the mysterious Scarab is found deep in the tundra by Kord Industries, run by previousCEO Ted Kord’s sister, Victoria (Susan Sarandon), and it’s anartifact Victoria has been in search of for a while. The CEO later uses the Scarab to fuel her OMAC (One Man Army Corps) project—an endeavor her brother previously forbade— but Jenny (Bruna Marquezine), Victoria’s niece, steals the Scarab, so it cannot be used any longer.
Jenny stashes the Scarab in a fast-food container and gives it to Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) for safekeeping. However, when Jaime’s curiosity gets the better of him, hetouches the Scarab and is immediately fused to its technology, creating a suit of armor around him. Flaunting its ability to fly and create defensive weapons from thin air, it becomes clear that the Scarab has chosen Jaime to be its host, and he assumes the mantle of the Blue Beetle.
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In order to remove the suit, Jaime and his family break into Kord Towers, where the Scarab temporarily takes control of Jaime to defeat enemies along the way. When the suit goes to kill villain Carapax, however, Jaime stops the Scarab from going through with it as the boy wants to keep a good moral standing. After obtaining a smartwatch from Kord Towers, Jenny takes Jaime to her childhood home, where theScarab’s origin is revealed.
Known as the Khaji Da, the Scarab used to belong to Jenny’s father,Ted Kord,who was theprevious Blue Beetle that operated as the hero of Palmera City before Superman. Prior to Ted Kord,archeologist, Dan Garrett was the Blue Beetle once the Scarab chose him, but after the Scarab was passed onto Ted Kord, the Khaji Da refused to merge with Ted, who was then forced to make his own tech. It’s also revealed that the Scarab’s primary goal is to protect the host; therefore, the tech can only be removed once the host dies.
The Khaji Da In DC Comics
First appearing in Secret Origins Vol 2 #2 in 1986, theKhaji Da Scarab is revealed to be technology belonging to The Reach—analien civilization that conquers planets for money. After the Green Lantern Corps forbade The Reach from targeting any more planets, the civilization turned to live weapons, the Scarabs, that acted like a hive-mind of tech. The Reach reprogrammed them to serve the race and scattered them on different planets.
Once each planet reached a certain stage of technological evolution, the Scarab would awaken and forcibly fuse with one of the inhabitants. Once merged, The Reach’s programming would override the host’s personality and render them a servant to The Reach’s cause, possessing the powers that came with the Scarab.
The first person to come into contact with the Scarab was thePharaoh Kha-Ef-Re, who used the Scarab’s power to rule over the kingdom and protect his race from threats. After the Pharaoh died, the Scarab was buried with him, where it lay dormant in a tomb for centuries. Enter archeologist Dan Garrett who sought the Pharaoh’s tomb and came into contact with the Scarab. After touching the artifact, however, Dan was not consumed by The Reach’s programming. Instead, he was granted the powers of the Blue Beetle, including energy absorption, superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and energy blasts.
Dan went on to use these powers to fight the threats against Earth, but the Scarab was later passed on to his student Ted Kord after he died in battle. Hoping to continue Dan’s legacy as the Blue Beetle, Ted was shocked when the Scarab refused to bond with him, so he made his own suit and fought crime regardless.
Once the Scarab found its way into Jaime’s life, the character brought down The Reach by allowing himself to be captured while the Scarab infiltrated The Reach’s computers to broadcast their invasion plans to the world. After admitting defeat, The Reach was forced to retreat, and the Khaji Da conversed with the other Scarabs on board to see The Reach never return to power.
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