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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