DC Studios co-head James Gunn has debunked claims that he cut a Ben Affleck voice cameo from the newly-released Blue Beetle.
On social media, a rumor surfaced that Blue Beetle originally featured a voice-only cameo by Affleck as the DC Extended Universe‘s Bruce Wayne/Batman, and that Gunn had it removed from the film. Gunn was quick to put the kibosh on this idea. “I’ve never heard of a Ben Affleck voice cameo in [Blue] Beetle, nor has Peter [Safran], much less cut one,” the filmmaker wrote. “I never heard of one because one never existed (just asked the producers).”
Notably, while Gunn and Safran are the co-chairs and CEOs of DC Studios, neither had anything to do with the making of Blue Beetle. The film was green-lit under previous DC Films head Walter Hamada. It was produced by the duo of John Rickard and Zev Foreman, and directed by Ángel Manuel Soto from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.
Furthermore, Soto recently stated that even after taking the reins at DC, Gunn and Safran’s input on Blue Beetle was minimal. “The studio always, generally, has their hands on it. As far as the essence of the story, [James Gunn and Peter Safran] liked what we were doing and they respected the vision and what we were trying to do with the film,” the director said. “They really did appreciate the fresh take, the nostalgic factor of how we start the film by taking the audience to see the family and fall in love with them for a prologue-of-sorts.”
Blue Beetle’s future in James Gunn’s DC Universe
Hamada initially green-lit Blue Beetle as part of the DCEU. Gunn and Safran are now rebooting the franchise into the DC Universe. The first full DCU film will be 2025’s Superman: Legacy, which is written and directed by Gunn. However, the filmmaker has described Xolo Maridueña‘s Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle as the first DCU character.
Blue Beetle does release at an interesting time — before Superman: Legacy, but after the universe-resetting DCEU film The Flash. Nevertheless, Gunn has repeatedly assured that Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes would have a place in the DCU post-reboot.
In the meantime, Blue Beetle is playing in theaters now.
