Warning! This article contains spoilers for Blue Beetle.
Summary
- Ben Affleck’s Batman delivers an impactful line in The Flash, advising Barry not to let tragedy define him, a sentiment that perfectly encapsulates Batman’s own tragic past.
- Blue Beetle’s protagonist, Jaime Reyes, follows Batman’s advice after his father’s tragic death, turning his heartbreak into courage and embracing his role as the Blue Beetle hero.
- The line from Ben Affleck’s Batman resonates in Blue Beetle, highlighting how the legacy of Batman lives on in the DC universe, as Jaime proves that scars can make someone a hero.
Ben Affleck’s latest appearance as Batman in The Flash included one fantastic line that has now been made even better by the DCU’s first hero, Blue Beetle. Despite the unclarity of the state of the DCEU in regard to the transition into James Gunn’s DCU, Jaime Reyes has been confirmed as the DCU’s first official hero. Gunn has stated that, while Superman: Legacy is the first official movie set in the DCU, Jaime Reyes as a character will continue in the new universe.
By the ending of Blue Beetle, this news becomes even more welcome given the excellent introduction to Jaime’s character. Not only does the film make his character immensely likable, relatable, and sympathetic, but previous entries in the DCEU actually benefit his character. One such entry is The Flash which, while having its own problems as a movie, included an all-time-best Ben Affleck Batman line that was somehow improved by Blue Beetle’s portrayal of its titular hero.
Ben Affleck’s Batman Perfectly Explained Batman’s Tragedy
Firstly, it is worth exploring the line in question from Batfleck in The Flash. At the end of The Flash‘s first act, Barry seeks out Bruce’s advice after discovering that he could travel back in time and potentially stop his mother from being killed. Bruce, knowing firsthand what the trauma of losing a parent feels like, cautions Barry against doing so in what is Ben Affleck’s best scene as the man beneath the Batman cowl in the entire DCEU.
After Barry asks if he should go back to save his mother, Bruce replies: “These scars we have make us who we are, we’re not meant to go back and fix them. Don’t let your tragedy define you.” This line perfectly sums up Batman’s tragic past. The immense scars that have traumatized Bruce from a young age did not define him, and he instead turned the pain and suffering of his parents’ death into power to fight for the greater good as Batman. This is easily one of the best lines in The Flash and undoubtedly the best Affleck has ever been during his time as the Caped Crusader, which is a shame given it was likely his final performance.
Blue Beetle Follows Batman’s Tragic Advice
Despite Affleck likely not showing up as Batman again with the DCU’s reboot of the character, this line proves how his legacy will live on in upcoming DC movies especially when it becomes clear that Jaime Reyes follows Batman’s tragic advice in Blue Beetle. Midway through the film, Jaime’s father is tragically killed due to the stress of his family being attacked by Kord Industries causing him to have a second heart attack. The scene is one of the most emotional in the film partly due to the amazing chemistry between the Reyes family but also because of the way Jaime recovers from the tragedy.
Just as Batman told Barry to do in The Flash, Jaime does not let his father’s death define him. Rather than go down a dark path and give in, Jaime turns his heartbreak into courage, channeling the awful tragedy that happened to him into something good as he truly embraces becoming the Blue Beetle hero. Just like Ben Affleck’s Batman, Jaime’s scars make him as much of a hero as Gotham’s Dark Knight as exemplified by Jaime’s defeat of Kord Industries in Blue Beetle‘s final act, spurred by the love he holds for his father.
