Blue Beetle vs. Green Lantern: Who Would Win in a Fight?

There have been three Blue Beetles so far in DC Comics and numerous Green Lanterns. However, Jaime Reyes – the current Blue Beetle – is certainly the most popular nowadays, especially knowing he’ll appear in a DCU movie. On the other hand, the best Green Lantern is Hal Jordan. So, if those two guys ever fought, who’d win, and why?

Green Lantern would likely beat Blue Beetle in most cases and fights – especially if we’re talking about Hal Jordan and Jaime Reyes. Hal is much more experienced, acquainted with his powers, and skilled when it comes to combat. Blue Beetle is insanely powerful, though, so he’d certainly pose a threat.

Throughout this article, I’ll focus on Hal and Jaime but will use other Blue Beetles and Green Lanterns as reference points to get as the objective of an answer as possible. If you want to get down to the bottom of this potential matchup, keep reading this article.

Strength

Green Lanter is a member of Earth’s Green Lantern Corps and possesses a Green Lantern Ring of Will. Essentially, Hal Jordan uses his willpower to create constructs out of his Ring that are virtually limitless in terms of their forms and power.

Now, Green Lantern doesn’t have superhuman strength himself, per se, but he can create constructs out of his Ring that are virtually limitless – easily capable of moving over 100 tons and much more. It puts him neck-and-neck with some of the greatest DC powerhouse superheroes. It all depends on his willpower – which is essentially indomitable.

As for Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes doesn’t have superhuman strength himself, either – he gets it from the Scarab that bonded with him, giving him the armor and powers of the Blue Beetle. The Scarab is made out of incredibly powerful and advanced alien technology, but Jaime Reyes isn’t really in full control of it.

That being said, Blue Beetle can lift well over 20 tons, and we’ve seen him accomplish major feats, such as pummeling an enemy through the ground with a single strike, tearing through metal with ease, etc.

Theories suggest that the Scarab’s strength is limitless, but we’ve never seen him accomplish something that Green Lantern does with ease. Hence, Green Lantern gets the first point in this fight.

Point: Green Lantern (1:0) Blue Beetle

Speed

Now, when it comes to speed, Blue Beetl and Green Lantern are much more closely contested. We’ve seen Blue Beetle travel well over light speed and even teleport. Or, at least traveled so fast that it seemed as if he appeared in several places at the same time. His common speed levels are around supersonic, but he showed the ability to exceed that dramatically.

On the other hand, Green Lantern has the ability of interstellar travel, but the most incredible feat of his speed came in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #28. Hal used his willpower to fly a plane construct so fast that he nearly entered the Speed Force. That’s basically Flash-level speeds.

Seeing that both of them presented incredible speed feats that well exceed the speed of light, I’m giving both Blue Beetle and green Lantern points in this category.

Point(s): Green Lantern (2:1) Blue Beetle

Fighting skills

Both Blue Beetle and Green Lantern heavily rely on their weaponry in fights – and they are both as versatile as one could imagine. However, when push comes to shove and hand-to-hand combat skills come into play, one has a big advantage.

Jaime Reyes is a teenager with no particular combat training other than what he figured out with the Scarab. On the other hand, Hal Jordan was a military pilot with formal combat training even before becoming Green Lantern. 

His fighting skills far exceed Jaime Reyes, and so does his combat experience. For that, there’s no question about who wins this category. 

Point: Green Lantern (3:1) Blue Beetle

Overall power

I initially thought this category would be a wipeout for Hal Jordan, but it turned out much more complicated than that. Blue Beetle’s skill set is great, but his overall power is even greater. The armor is incredibly versatile and durable and can create various weapons, such as blades, shields, cannons, etc.

He can also produce energy pulses and blasts powerful enough to harm anyone nearby. The extent of Blue Beetle’s powers is quite amazing, but Jaime Reyes isn’t fully controlled. They come into play, especially when the Scarab takes over.

On the other hand, Green Lantern is a well-known DC powerhouse and one of the founding members of the Justice League. He can build constructs that are limited only by his willpower. Meaning theoretically, if his willpower was limitless – so were his powers.

But, even if we hypothetically consider that the powers of Blue Beetle and Green Lantern are equal, the difference-maker is that Hal Jordan is always in full control of his powers, whereas Jaime Reyes isn’t. I believe the only reasonable outcome is giving Green Lantern the point here.

Point: Green Lantern (4:1) Blue Beetle

Mutual fights

Lastly, I couldn’t find or remember any fight between Hal and Jaime in the comics. However, Jaime Reyes once faced another Green Lantern – Guy Gardner – in Blue Beetle #1, which came out in 2006.

Guy was actually looking for Jaime, and when he found him, Guy’s Green Lantern Ring reacted to the Scarab, sending him into a blind fit of rage. He wanted to literally kill Jaime Reyes, but even though he was in such a crazed, enraged state, Jaime was able to fend off his attacks.

Surely, he didn’t beat Guy in that fight, per se, but the fact that he managed to fend off his attacks so successfully without even trying too hard goes to show how powerful Blue Beetle actually is. If anyone won that fight, it was Blue Beetle, so he deserves a point in this category.

Point: Blue Beetle (2:4) Green Lantern

Blue Beetle Vs. Green Lantern: Who Wins?

The result, in the end, suggests a comfortable 4:2 win for Green Lantern. And we haven’t even touched upon other categories he might’ve had the upper hand on against Blue Beetle. He arguably has more stamina, while their durability is around the same level, seeing that Jaime can create nearly impenetrable energy shields.

One could argue that Hal Jordan is also smarter than Jaime Reyes, or at least more experience, seeing that he’s an older person and a skilled military veteran while Reyes is just a teenage high-school kid.

All these points to Green Lantern winning, but it certainly wouldn’t be easy. Blue Beetle has many tricks up his sleeve and would give the Lantern a hard time in a fight. I’d still give Green Lantern at least four out of five fights, with the one win for Blue Beetle being a surprise sneak attack or something else to catch Hal Jordan off guard.