Rumors first surfaced earlier this month that Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani would be portraying Booster Gold in the DCU's upcoming DC Studios/Max Booster Gold series and a very telling sign that this rumor was indeed true was the fact that DC Studios co-chair James Gunn did not take to X/Twitter or Threads to debunk it.
Now, The Cosmic Circus is adding that they've spoken to Blue Beetle star Xolo Maridueña (who is one of the few actors making the jump from the DCEU to the DCU), and he's confirmed that Kumail Nanjiani will indeed portray Booster Gold.
Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are two DC superheroes that have close ties, although it should be noted that Booster Gold is best friends with Jaime Reyes' (Maridueña's DCU character) predecessor, Ted Kord.
The disappearance of Ted Kord was a big plot point in the Blue Beetle film and figures to be a mystery that gets picked up in the Booster Gold series. Rumors are heavily swirling that Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis voiced Kord in the film and is set to play the character in future DCU projects.
The other rumor currently floating around about Booster Gold (that Gunn has also yet to debunk) is that Danny McBride, John Carcieri and Jeff Fradley have been tapped to develop this show. Giving this rumor credence is the fact that Jody Hill (Eastbound and Down, Vice Principals) has also been confirmed as a producer on the show.
When Gunn announced the DCU Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters slate back in January 2023, Booster Gold was one of the confirmed projects.
On the show, Gunn stated, "Booster Gold is one of comic's really popular, cult heroes. He's a fascinating guy, a loser from the future who uses future technology to come back to present-day and become a superhero, so that people will love him. It is bascially the superhero story of imposter syndrome, in an HBO Max series."
In the comics, Booster, real name Michael J. Carter, is a resident of the 25th century and a star quarterback at Gotham University who was expelled after being caught up in a scheme to fix games.
Now working as a security guard at a museum, he steals some of the gadgets on display - Braniac V's force belt, a Legion of Superheroes flight ring, etc. and travels back in time and becomes a superhero, albeit one that builds wealth around his superhero exploits- much to the chagrin of his fellow Justice League coworkers.
Accompanying Carter on his time travel journey, is his robotic security guard co-worker Skeets, an AI that's a common tool in the 25th century but is considered incredibly advanced by 21st century standards.
Stay tuned for word on future updates. With all of the activity swirling around Booster Gold at the moment, we figure Gunn may be forced to weigh in sooner or later.