Internet comic book "news" is often like a children's game of telephone: Someone says something, someone else hears what they want to hear and passes that along to someone else, and the next thing you know, Blue Beetle will be co-starring in HBO's announced Booster Gold television series.

If you saw that news reported somewhere in the past week, know that at this point it's nothing more than wishful thinking.

The original report that many sites are referencing ran in The Hollywood Reporter. "Marketing 'The Flash': No Ezra Miller, But Lots of Batman and TV Spots" ruminates on the James Gunn-controlled future of the DC Cinematic Universe thusly:

Both executives have said some actors from the current universe could persist, and one who seems most likely is Xolo Maridueña, whose character Blue Beetle has close ties in the comics to Booster Gold. Gunn and Safran are planning their own Booster Gold show, and it is possible Blue Beetle could appear in it, depending on Beetle's reception this summer.

"Could persist"? "One who seems most likely"? As you can see, that's a lot of speculation on the part of the article's authors. Which is fine, so long as we recognize that for what it is.

It's not like we haven't had high hopes before. Once upon a time, people were similarly predicting that Booster Gold would show up on CW's The Flash or early seasons of DC's Legends of Tomorrow. He didn't.

Which is not to say that we shouldn't be hopeful. Blue Beetle could appear in a Booster Gold show. Assuming we ever actually get a Booster Gold show, I sure hope he does. All I'm saying is that we should all be careful not to confuse rumors with reality.

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Writes jadeknight2008:

I'm not sure if y'all caught this or not but Booster has a cameo as an action figure in the Teen Titans Go! Season 8 episode "Teen Titans Action". It's from March. Thank you for the amazing website!

First things first, thanks! I try. (And I love the "y'all.")

Second, no, I had no idea until you told me. Thanks for that, too! Here's the screen grab:

Thanks for keeping us informed. Keep you eyes out, Booster boosters; y'all never know where you'll find Gold.

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My mailbox is full with "news" sites reporting that in an exclusive interview with CBR.com, Chris Pratt has broken his silence on whether or not he'll play Booster Gold!

"As far as DC characters pan, I don't know. I will let the fans tell me what they would want me to do. I don't have anything official to announce. I haven't spoken to James Gunn in any capacity to where he's offered me anything like that."

So there you have it. If you want Chris Pratt to play Booster Gold, tell him. If you don't, tell him. Apparently, he's listening.

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The Internet's premier Booster Gold reporter, Russ Burlingame, is writing another book, this time an oral history of DC's Legends of Tomorrow television show.

Now, I've always been a little ambivalent about Legends. I watched a few episodes the first season because it had a "Rip Hunter" in it, but when I discovered Legends' take on characters in the pages of DC Comics (especially "Rip Hunter") was a bad match for my headcanon, I lost interest quickly.

That said, Booster Gold did appear in the series' final episode, and any oral history of the television show will have to cover how Booster was introduced just in time for the show to get canceled. I could definitely read more about how all involved felt about that.

I asked Russ what else Booster Gold fans should expect, and he said:

I already talked to Dan Park (who wrote the BG backup comic [Earth-Prime: Legends of Tomorrow #3]) and to some folks about the direct influence of Time Masters: Vanishing Point and Booster Gold #5 (which seems to have clearly been the emphasis for the episode "The Fixed Point"). So while Booster isn't a huge presence in the book, he's definitely a bigger presence than you would expect from a Legends book.

That's good enough for me.

If you'd like to join me in helping Russ, you can pre-order a copy of his book at Kickstarter.com.

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Over the weekend, a friend who does not read superhero comic books sent me a screenshot of a link to an online article teasing "Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell Wants to Play Booster Gold in the DCU."

Well, of course he does. Who wouldn't want to play Booster Gold?

More importantly, this should serve as a reminder that the mere announcement of a Booster Gold television show instantly reaches far, far farther into pop culture than four decades of comic book storytelling has. Even without a director or actors or even a second of screen time, my friends and family are now engaging with a character I doubt any could pick out of a police line-up. That's the power of TV!

That's why my inbox is now filled with links to articles like "11 Facts About DC's Time-Traveling Superhero Only Huge Fans Will Know" and "Who is Booster Gold in the DC universe and what are his powers?" It turns out that not everyone in the world is a Booster booster... yet.

My brother used to say that what sounds like pointless repetition to me is someone else hearing the news for the first time. He was right, of course. There are 8 billion people in the world, but no more than a few million have ever held a Booster Gold comic book.

So have a little patience with non-comic-reading people who are just now getting up to speed on how terrific Booster Gold is. If you're lucky, they'll remind you of how and when you first became a fan yourself.

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