The first Blue Beetle trailer has been released by Warner Bros. and DC.
Actor Xolo Maridueña, who’s already made a name for himself in Cobra Kai, takes on a new challenge in a feature film directed by Angel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer. With Jaime Reyes’ family playing a central part in the movie, DC finally gives a Latino superhero a prominent role on the big screen.
BLUE BEETLE Is The First Latino Superhero Of DC
Monday’s trailer drop gave us a sneak peek at Jaime Reyes, the latest superhero in town. The recent college graduate gains super-powered armor after a close encounter with an alien scarab. Jaime must learn to wield his newfound abilities while simultaneously uncovering the reason behind the scarab‘s visit to Earth. In the comics, Jaime resides in El Paso, Texas, but the movie version sees him living in Palmera City, a brand new location that exists solely for this project’s purpose.
In the Blue Beetle trailer, the filmmakers placed a strong emphasis on the theme of family, which is evident throughout the film. Director Soto, a Puerto Rican native, expressed his desire to authentically represent Latinos on screen, avoiding clichéd Hallmark versions of the culture. He wanted to capture the essence of relatable characters that audiences could connect with, like an uncle or family member, which has been the most rewarding aspect of directing for him – creating an authentic chemistry among the cast that he could relate to from his own experiences growing up.
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Maridueña pointed out that, unlike other superheroes who hide their identity from their family, in the trailer of Blue Beetle, the family witnesses the first transformation of Jaime Reyes. This unique journey of a superhero and his family is something that has never been explored in superhero movies before, and it is the heart of the movie.
“We see some of these other superheroes who are able to hide from their family the fact that they’re a superhero, 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.”
Maridueña
Blue Beetle may be centered around Jaime Reyes and his family, but the film doesn’t limit itself to just his version of the character. Throughout the comics, the mantle of Blue Beetle has been passed down to Dan Garrett and Ted Kord. Soto explained that rather than sticking to Reyes‘ storyline, he incorporated the most exciting elements from all the different versions of Blue Beetle to create a “greatest hits” version of the character.
Soto and Maridueña were blown away by the abundance of amazing material from various sources, causing them to ponder, “How can we possibly select just one?” But soon they realized they didn’t have to limit themselves and could create something truly spectacular by drawing from the best elements, including those from Injustice 2. They went on an extensive exploration of these elements, which they found to be absolutely phenomenal.
“There is a lot of great stuff in all of the different runs, and we were like, ‘Man, how do you choose one? And then we were like, ‘Do we have to choose one? Let’s do whatever the fuck we want, just have fun and create something awesome. Create something really interesting that takes the greatest hits, even from the Injustice 2 game. We really deep dive on it because it’s fucking dope.”
Soto
Their goal with Blue Beetle was to make it stand out as something unique and exceptional in a genre saturated with superhero films. Their goal with Blue Beetle was to make it stand out as something unique and exceptional in a genre saturated with superhero films.
“We wanted to do something that’s different. We’ve seen a lot of these superhero movies over the course of the past couple of decades. And seeing [which] slot we can fit in that feels different was one of the most magical parts … It’s not about competition to us. We’re not looking to be called ‘The next blah, blah, blah.’ We just want to enter this space and have it feel new. And I think we completed that. I think we did it.”
Maridueña
Fans are going crazy about the trailer, and James Gunn celebrated its release by tweeting the same thing. He quoted: Come see this warm, funny, wonderful film only in the theaters August 18!
Come see this warm, funny, wonderful film only in theaters August 18! #BlueBeetle pic.twitter.com/cLxujsaXCw
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) April 3, 2023
