After filming for several months, WB's Blue Beetle has officially wrapped production, director Angel Manuel Soto has announced via his Instagram story. The Latin-led superhero project features Cobra Kai's Xolo Maridueña in the titular role of Jaime Reyes.
The blockbuster project finalized principal photography on the island of enchantment after filming in several cities including Atlanta, Georgia; El Paso, Texas; and Santurce, Puerto Rico. Although images of Maridueña as Blue Beetle surfaced online during production, the filmmaker has not revealed an official look at the film. Of course, it could arrive at San Diego Comic-Con later this week, but that remains to be speculation. The first DC film featuring a Latinx superhero is helmed by the Puerto Rican director, adapting a screenplay by Mexican writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.
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.
In addition to Maridueña, the Latin-led ensemble includes George Lopez, Harvey Guillén, Belissa Escobedo as Jaime’s younger sister Milagros Reyes, and Brazilian star Bruna Marquezine as Jaime Reyes' love interest. Susan Sarandon will play the primary villain Victoria Kord, Raoul Max Trujillo (Mayans M.C.) as the secondary villain Carapax the Indestructible Man. It's not clear if Ted Kord, the original Blue Beetle in the comics, will be making an appearance, but the inclusion of Victoria is no mistake. Expect Kord Industries to play a vital role in the film's narrative, whether the original host of the alien scarab shows up or not.
Just over a year before it is set to hit theaters, Blue Beetle serves as an important moment in the superhero film genre. Being the first comic book film featuring a Latino superhero after many, many years is no small feat. The DCEU movie was originally set for HBO Max alongside Batgirl before WB ultimately opted to switch to an exclusively theatrical run. Despite the rise of streaming, it would be hard to justify not letting the first Latin-led superhero film exclusively debut in the movie theater format. Especially with a popular character like Blue Beetle, who has already appeared in several small-screen projects including Young Justice.
Blue Beetle is expected to premiere exclusively in theaters on August 18, 2023. While we wait for the Blue Beetle, check out the trailer for Black Adam below: