Who kills Blue Beetle? Death explained in DC Comics timeline

Though Jaime Reyes has never died, the two Blue Beetles before him met grisly ends. Both died as heroes, though both also managed to cheat death at least once. 

Jaime Reyes is the current Blue Beetle and the star of the upcoming DCU film, but he’s actually the third person to hold the title. Jaime became the Blue Beetle during 2005’s Infinite Crisis, finding a mysterious scarab that bound itself to his spine. 

Since then, Jaime’s had multiple near-death experiences, but he’s always managed to scrape by. However, his predecessors weren’t so lucky. This could be in part due to Jaime’s connection to the scarab, which gives him much more power. 

The death of the previous Blue Beetles proved to be the starting point of something much bigger. Both deaths were also significant moments in DC history – even if they managed to cheat death in later years. 

The original Blue Beetle dies in an island battle

Convinced his uncle Jarvis had faked his death and was building an army of killer robots, Ted Kord enlists the aid of his mentor, archaeologist Dan Garrett, to search for his lab on Pago Island. The two find Jarvis in short order but are quickly overwhelmed. 

Unbeknownst to Ted, Garrett was also a superhero. He had found a scarab on an expedition which gave him enhanced abilities, and became Blue Beetle. He transforms to fight off the robots, but an ensuing explosion kills both Jarvis and Garrett. 

In his final breath, Garrett pleads with Kord to take over as Blue Beetle. Kord leaves the scarab with Dan, though, using technology and training to compensate for his lack of superpowers. 

The second death of Dan Garrett

Several years after Kord had taken over as the Blue Beetle, the scarab awoke and reanimated Dan Garrett’s corpse. It convinced him that Kord was a usurper and reenergized Garrett into his Blue Beetle form, setting him up for a brawl. 

The two Beetles would brawl over the rights to the name. The scarab would eventually see Kord as the better of the two and attempt to seduce him with the power of the scarab, but he would refuse such powers. 

Regaining his senses, Garrett pushed back on the scarab’s control until it explodes, killing him for good. Garrett would remain dead, and the scarab would be believed lost. Years later, the scarab would resurface and be returned to Ted Kord, but he could never activate it or use its power. 

Ted Kord is killed by Maxwell Lord

As the second Blue Beetle, Ted Kord was more often than not the punchline of jokes. His company was regularly failing, and he was one of the weaker members of the Justice League. Despite this, he still proved himself on several occasions, not least of all being his final adventure as Blue Beetle. 

It was a tumultuous time for superheroes all around. The story took place in the shadow of Identity Crisis, which revealed that the Justice League had rewritten the personality of Dr. Light, then rewritten Batman’s personality when he discovered them. The growing paranoia was creating a rift among the heroes, which meant when Ted Kord needed help, he was mostly ignored. 

Ted eventually discovered Maxwell Lord, the former financier of the Justice League, had taken over the spy organization Checkmate. Lord had been spying on heroes and knew everything about them – including their secret identities and weaknesses. When Blue Beetle refused to join, Lord shot him in the head. The death would kickstart one of the darkest periods for the DC universe, culminating in Wonder Woman’s public murder of Maxwell Lord. 

The return of Ted Kord

Ted Kord remains dead for the remainder of DC’s New Earth. His resurrection is teased multiple times, including in the pages of Blackest Night, when the Black Lanterns revive his corpse. Booster Gold eventually buries Ted’s corpse outside of time, allowing him to rest in peace. 

After the universe is rebooted following Flashpoint, Jaime Reyes remains active. However, his origin is reworked not to include any mention of a previous Blue Beetle. Ted Kord eventually makes his debut in 2014’s Forever Evil #7, instated as the head of Kord Industries following his father’s death. 

It’s not until DC Universe: Rebirth that Ted and Jaime are shown teaming up. Ted is retconned into having been Blue Beetle in the past, but there was no Infinite Crisis in this timeline, and Ted never died. Both he and Jaime are considered the current Blue Beetle, though Ted’s much more aloof and more often serves as Jaime’s mentor than an active adventurer.