When Does the Film "Blue Beetle" (2023) Take Place?
"Blue Beetle" is a superhero film written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer with Gary Dauberman [adapting "Blue Beetle" #1-#4 v5 (2011) by Tony Bedard as well as "Infinite Crisis" #3-#7 (2005-2006) by Geoff Johns] that released August 18th, 2023. So when is "Blue Beetle" set?
It takes place on the fictional DC Films timeline in the years:
We know this because Uncle César "Rudy" Reyes says, "Metropolis has Superman. Central City has the Flash". In the same scene, Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle says, "It's like Batman's stuff." (To which Uncle Rudy yells, "Batman's a fascist!"). Therefore Batman, Superman, and the Flash already exist as public figures before the start of this movie. Following the timeline as laid out by previous DC live-action material, the Flash only became a public figure during the main action of "Justice League" (2017), which takes place in July and August of 2017 AD. (The character also does so in both Flash television shows, but in them there is no acknowledged version of Batman.) So it must be after July of 2017 AD.
2023 AD - 2024 AD
We know this because Uncle César "Rudy" Reyes says, "Metropolis has Superman. Central City has the Flash". In the same scene, Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle says, "It's like Batman's stuff." (To which Uncle Rudy yells, "Batman's a fascist!"). Therefore Batman, Superman, and the Flash already exist as public figures before the start of this movie. Following the timeline as laid out by previous DC live-action material, the Flash only became a public figure during the main action of "Justice League" (2017), which takes place in July and August of 2017 AD. (The character also does so in both Flash television shows, but in them there is no acknowledged version of Batman.) So it must be after July of 2017 AD.
Specifically, a banner in the background in Jaime's neighborhood reads: "EDGE KEYS CHARTER SCHOOL OPENING FALL 2023" and most school years start in September. So it is probably not long before September of 2023 AD.
More specifically, at the start of the story Jaime has just finished the undergraduate program at Gotham Law University and most college programs finish in May or June. So it is most likely May or June of 2023 AD in the beginning.
Later, in the conclusion of the narrative one character gives another a gift of a 2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter, a make and model of truck introduced in Spring of 2024 AD. So it must be during or after Spring of 2024 AD at the end.
The film's director, Angel Manual Soto, has been explicit that the movie's time setting is "pretty vague" to allow it to be retroactively placed in between later DC live-action projects. It is a chronologically midway film in the DC Films timeline and can be watched either at its timeline point or entirely separately.
Additionally, Ignacio Carapax is seen in flashback to be a child victim of the Guatemalan Civil War, which lasted from November 13th, 1960 AD to December 29th, 1996 AD in the real world. These flashbacks therefore must take place between November of 1960 AD and December of 1996 AD though they are otherwise unplaceable.
The film's director, Angel Manual Soto, has been explicit that the movie's time setting is "pretty vague" to allow it to be retroactively placed in between later DC live-action projects. It is a chronologically midway film in the DC Films timeline and can be watched either at its timeline point or entirely separately.