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Booster Gold/Blue Beetle: Kevin Maguire Reacts to DCU Casting Rumors

Comics artist Kevin Maguire shared his thoughts on the rumors that Kumail Nanjiani has been cast as the New DCU's Booster Gold.

As we inch closer to the official kick-off of DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran's New DCU later this year with the adult animated series Creature Commandos, the rumor mill has been rumbling for a while about who would be cast to play the lead in the live-action take on Dan Jurgens's Booster Gold. Previously, the rumblings were about The Boys star Antony Starr being cast – rumors he wasted little time putting to rest. Now, reports are that Kumail Nanjiani (Marvel's The Eternals) has been cast in the role – with the confirmation reportedly coming from Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai), who will be returning as Jamie Reyes, aka Blue Beetle, for the New DCU in an upcoming animated series. If that's true, then the dynamic between Blue Beetle and Booster Gold will be quite different from the one they shared during their DC Comics runs together. That's a point that legendary comics artist Kevin Maguire addressed on social media earlier today – with Maguire being someone who is more than experienced when it comes to "super buddies" Blue Beetle and Booster Gold.

Maguire joined Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis for the 1987 relaunch of Justice League (later renamed Justice League International), with the buddy dynamic between Booster Gold (M.J. Carter) and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) being one of the many reasons for the title's success and lasting influence. Maguire's run would last through issue #24, though he would return with issue #60 for Giffen and DeMatteis' final story arc. The trio would reunite for 2003's Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries and its 2005's "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" (in JLA Classified) – with Maguire continuing to revisit the characters during his artistic career.

"If this is what it's going to be, it's going to be a different thing than I've been doing for 30 years. The Booster/Beetle I did were contemporaries, best friends like Butch and Sundance or Starsky and Hutch. A teenage Beetle and a Booster pushing 50 is a very different dynamic," Maguire wrote in the first of three tweets/xs about the casting rumors and how the age difference would change the characters' connection as contemporaries. "I can't deny I'd be a little disappointed not seeing the guys I've been used to finally being on the big screen, but creators are allowed to put their own unique spin on material." Maguire continued, "Even if they cast a Ted Kord in his late 40s/early 50s, that's not the same as a Beetle/Booster in their late 20s/early 30s. It's just going to be something different." Here's a look at Maguire's post offering his thoughts on the rumors – though nothing was confirmed at the time of this writing:

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