HBO Max stalls the animated series as DC misses out on Xolo Maridueña’s exploding global stardom.

DC’s Xolo Maridueña Problem! James Gunn’s DCU stumbles on Blue Beetle, it won’t just be a missed opportunity—it will go down as another major miscalculation for the new regime.

Reports indicate that the proposed Blue Beetle animated series has been “quietly stalled” by HBO Max, with industry sources calling it “dead in the water”. The reason? HBO Max is shifting its strategy away from youth-targeted animation in order to focus on a more “mature, prestige live-action” brand. While HBO Max hasn’t formally canceled the show—leaving the door open for DC Studios to shop it to other streamers—the internal logic is bafflingly flawed.

If the justification for shunning a proper live-action follow-up is that adult-oriented R-rated projects are safe bets… Peacemaker Season 2 hardly proved that live-action is a bulletproof, world-shaking formula.

Compared to high-profile newcomers like Milly Alcock and David Corenswet, Xolo Maridueña brings a pre-built, deeply passionate fanbase that DC has consistently underutilized. And time is running out to fix that. With Xolo taking on Portgas D. Ace in Netflix’s One Piece Season 3, his star power is about to go global in a way DC can’t even fathom.

DC is holding a star on the verge of a massive global explosion, and instead of capitalizing on it, they are handing all that momentum straight over to Netflix.