The newest DC hero is here, and his origin story is a family affair. Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) stars as Jamie Reyes, directed by Angel Manuel Soto. Maridueña is the third person to take up the mantle of the Blue Beetle in the DC comic books.
In the trailer we see Jaime go for a job interview, after which he is he’s handed a fast food container and told to guard it with his life. When he takes it home and opens it with his family, we finally see the Blue Beetle Scarab, at which point the scarab attaches itself to Jaime’s body and transforms and provides him with a powerful suit of blue alien armour, then flying him out of his house. This was a refreshing change from the classic comic book trope of the superhero constantly hiding his identity. In “Blue Beetle,” Jamie’s family knows hes a superhero from the start. They even help him with what he has coming. The trailer even manages to throw shade at Batman.
“We see some of these other superheroes who are able to hide from their family the fact that they’re a superhero,” Maridueña added. “But, I mean, as you guys just saw in the trailer, his family is right there on that first transformation … So to come through this journey together is something that I think we haven’t seen before in superhero movies. And that really is the beating heart of this movie.”
The cast will star a predominantly Latino cast. Although much isn’t revealed about the plot we do know the film is deeply rooted in family and its clear this is going to be a very funny film. We also know that Susan Sarandon’s character Victoria Kord will be playing the main villain. Starring alongside Maridueña are Adriana Barraza (Rambo: Last Blood, Thor) as Jaime’s grandmother, Nana, Damían Alcázar (Narcos franchise) as his father, Elpidia Carrillo (Mayans M.C., the Predator films) as his mother, Bruna Marquezine (Maldivas, God Save the King) as Jenny Kord, Raoul Max Trujillo (the Sicario films, Mayans M.C.) as Carapax, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) as Victoria Kord, and George Lopez (the Rio and Smurf franchises) as Jaime’s Uncle Rudy. The film also stars Belissa Escobedo (American Horror Stories, Hocus Pocus 2) as Jaime’s sister, Milagro, and Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) as Dr. Sanchez.
“One of the things that we really wanted to do with the cast was to be able to be as authentic as we can,” Soto, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, said. “Not the Hallmark, cookie-cutter Latinos. Something that feels like, ‘Yeah, that’s my uncle. I can totally relate…’ That for me, as a director, is probably the most satisfying thing. Being able to to get an authentic chemistry from a collective that feels like something I grew up with.”
Blue Beetle looks like it’s going to be exciting, action packed, emotional and hilarious film. In other words just what DC needs. Not to mention the fact that you can tell from that trailer itself that we are in for one hell of a performance from Xolo Maridueña.
The film was originally developed as an HBO Max original film, but Warner Bros. shifted the project to a theatrical release last year prior to James Gunn and Peter Safran becoming co-CEOs of DC Studios. “Blue Beetle” is currently scheduled to release on Aug. 18.
Fangirl and Writer with a huge passion for entertainment.
