Susan Sarandon is officially set to join the DCEU in WB's Blue Beetle as the villainous Victoria Kord, The Wrap exclusively reports. The Academy Award-winning actress replaces Sharon Stone, who was previously in talks to play the villain before Sarandon closed the deal.

The actress will be sharing the screen with Cobra Kai's Xolo Maridueña, who plays Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle. While Sarandon serves as the primary villain to the titular hero, Raoul Max Trujillo (Mayans M.C.) will be playing a secondary villain, Carapax the Indestructible Man. Details remain scarce about their involvement but expect them to have vital connections with each other. The latest additions to the cast join a stacked Latin-led ensemble including Harvey Guillén, Belissa Escobedo, and Brazilian star Bruna Marquezine.

Victoria Kord will be an original character created for the film, but her last name certainly rings a bell. Those familiar with the source material know that the man who donned the alien suit before Jaime Reyes was Ted Kord, a genius scientist and occasional member of the Justice League. It is unclear if the film will be including Ted, or gender-swapping him for Victoria, but the inclusion of a Kord should not be ignored. In the comics, Carapax the Indestructible Man uses “indestructible" technology invented by Jarvis Kord and his nephew Ted.

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An official synopsis is not available, but we can expect the film to follow the teenage superhero Jaime Reyes, a Mexican-American living in El Paso that discovers an alien scarab called Blue Beetle. The extraterrestrial attaches to his spine, granting him armor and increased speed and strength. Plus, the ability to create weapons and shields on the fly, not unlike Green Lantern. The first DC film featuring a Latinx superhero will be helmed by Puerto Rican director Angel Manuel Soto, adapting the Blue Beetle script by Mexican writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.

Blue Beetle serves as Sarandon's first foray into the blockbuster superhero movie business. Across the pond, she recently voiced Black Widow in the third installment of the audio podcast series Marvel’s Wastelanders. Outside a handful of film appearances, the Oscar winner has been a consistent presence on the small screen in recent memory. On television, Sarandon earned Emmy nominations for Ryan Murphy’s Feud as Bette Davis opposite Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford.

The live-action Blue Beetle adaptation is expected to premiere exclusively in theaters on August 18, 2023.