Warning! Spoilers to Future State: Suicide Squad #2 below!
When Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Peter Quill made his MCU debut, nobody knew who Star-Lord was much to his frustration, something DC’s newest hero Gold Beetle experiences in her own unique way. Appearing during Future State in the 853rd century, the enthusiastic time traveler interrupts the destruction of the DC universe, claiming to be able to help the overwhelmed heroes stop the forces of evil and save everything before it’s too late. Borrowing one of Star-Lord’s iconic movie moments, the Gold Beetle’s eagerness to list her accomplishments when introducing herself takes a tragic turn when it becomes her last words.
The Gold Beetle is the female successor of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, two very different DC heroes whose time together in the Justice League created a life-long friendship that later became further intertwined into one ultimate legacy. A superhero and time traveler who works alongside others like the Linear Men from their base in the Vanishing Point, the Gold Beetle is accompanied by a future version of Skeets, the same robot sidekick that accompanied and assisted her ancestor Booster Gold thousands of years ago. The Gold Beetle displays personality traits similar to either of her heroic relatives and due to her time-traveling experience, she possesses unique knowledge such as superhero identities, secret histories, and even the knowledge of company-wide reboots.
In Future State: Suicide Squad #2, the story by Jeremy Adams and Fernando Pasarin has the Gold Beetle interrupt the Unkindness’s invasion of the future, explaining that while the surviving heroes don’t know who she is, she can help them save everything. She reveals her ancestor’s scarab magical potential is only accessible by the former Black Adam, continuing their mission after Skeets heroically sacrifices himself to ensure their escape. After finding the Phantom Stranger who guides them to meet with the omnipotent Quintessence, Gold Beetle argues against their plan to do nothing in hopes of simply rebuilding the universe when the Unkindness is done. As if to prove her point, Gold Beetle begins to disappear as a result of her timeline being consumed, her last words being “But I’m the Queen of the Quantum Realm, Waverider Warrior, the Tiara of Time…“, repeating her irritation for not being able to finish the list before disappearing forever.
In many ways, Gold Beetle has much in common with MCU’s Star-Lord portrayed by actor Chris Pratt. Despite their impressive credentials and experience, nobody knows who they are. They find themselves constantly out of their usual depths which they attempt to compensate for with humor and subtle pop culture references. They both pilot special spacecraft, treasure and protect their friends and allies, and both have memorable death scenes while attempting to fight nigh-omnipotent villains. Like Star-Lord dissolving into dust near the end of Avengers: Infinity War thanks to Thanos’ snap, Gold Beetle disappears thanks to the Unkindness erasing her from existence – a tragic ending to a young hero.
Although Gold Beetle technically disappears at the end of the DC Universe, her unique status as a time traveler means that other versions of her still exist within different periods in history thus explaining her upcoming team-up with the Flash in the 30th Century. Just like Star-Lord returned when the effects of Thanos’ snap was undone in Avengers: Endgame, the future Black Adam has traveled to the present in hopes of stopping the Unkindness prematurely, thus saving the future and countless others from being destroyed. With her future left uncertain, the Gold Beetle will get other chances to make a second impression and maybe even get the chance to finish introducing herself without any further interruptions.
