Blue Beetle is a popular Latino hero in the DC Universe, and now he’s getting his own movie. Even so far from release, fans are excited about how the film looks. Those involved in making it have already proven Blue Beetle will be a triumph for Latinx cultures. Thankfully, even after Batgirl was canceled in the DCEU, Blue Beetle remains safe and should have its theatrical release sometime in 2023. Fans were worried that Blue Beetle might face the chopping block in the DCEU restructuring process, but for now, it seems Warner Bros. Discovery is continuing to invest in the project.

Blue Beetle is the story of Jaime Reyes, a Mexican-American teenager that finds a mysterious robotic scarab that fuses with his spine and gives him the ability to summon a powerful suit of armor. Though this may seem like a blessing, Jaime quickly discovers that the beetle has a mind of its own and is sometimes able to control him instead of the other way around. Blue Beetle is DC’s first Latinx hero to get their own feature film, and the director, writer, and nearly all the cast are Latinx as well. Blue Beetle has long deserved more screen time, and now it looks like they’re going to get it. Here’s everything we know about Blue Beetle.

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Blue Beetle: The Plot

     DC Comics

Jaime Reyes is the third but most popular Blue Beetle. If this is an origin story, it will cover the moment he found the scarab. If Victoria Kord is anything like Ted Kord in the comic books, she will somehow be related to the mysterious technology. But, where Ted Kord was the second Blue Beetle and occasional member of the Justice League, this new Victoria Kord will be a villain, according to The Wrap.

We know from the cast list that Carapax the Indestructible Man will be involved, so the story is likely to go along the lines of this evil Kord corporation inventing the technology and then giving it to this man only to have it be misused.

In the comics, Jaime Reyes finds the scarab after it is flung to his hometown of El Paso, Texas, from the exploding Rock of Eternity. This is the home of the wizard Shazam, so one wonders if Blue Beetle will connect to the Black Adam and Shazam movies coming out. After Jaime discovers the scarab, it fuses to his spine while he is sleeping. But this is likely where the film story will part from the comic book. If we can draw any conclusions from the cast list, Victoria Kord will probably be aware of the scarab and send the powerful Carapax to retrieve it. Jaime must likely find a way to work with the scarab in order to protect himself and his mind from the strange technology.

Blue Beetle: The Cast & Crew

     Netflix/DC Comics

The Latinx cast is stacked with talent. Xolo Maridueña, who plays Miguel in Cobra Kai, will be starring as Jaime Reyes, and we couldn’t think of a better actor for the role. There are many other recognizable names, including Harvey Guillén, who plays the fearsome vampire “hunter” Guillermo in What we do in the Shadows. His part, as yet, hasn’t been revealed, even though the movie has finished filming. But since many of the other major story roles have been filled, one theory is that DC is giving the scarab a voice, and that voice is Harvey Guillén. Normally the scarab communicates in clicks and alien noises, with Jaime somehow being able to comprehend. But it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that a big production company might change something like this for a feature film.

Other fantastic actors include the legendary George Lopez playing the role of Uncle Rudy Reyes. Elpidia Carrillo from the original Predator movies and more recently Euphoria will play Rocio Reyes. Raoul Max Trujillo (Riddick, Apocalypto) will be Carapax the Indestructible Man, a big Blue Beetle villain with a powerful suit. Adriana Barraza (Babel, Thor) will play Nana, likely Jaime’s grandmother. Jorge Jimenez (‘Til Death) will play Uncle Chema Reyes. Bruna Marquezine (Maldivas) will play Penny, Jaime’s love interest. Belissa Escobedo (American Horror Story, Sex Appeal) will play Milagros Reyes, Jaime’s sister. Damián Alcázar (La Ley de Herodes, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) will play Alberto Reyes. And Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise, Ray Donovan) will be Victoria Kord, a character that might be related to one in the comics but seems to have been made for the film.

Along with the predominantly Latinx cast, the culture is represented by Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings) directing and Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Bala) writing.

Release Date

     Netflix

The movie has completed filming and is currently in post-production. Though, at first, the Blue Beetle project was set to release exclusively on HBO Max, the film is now coming to theaters with a release date set for August 18, 2023, despite Warner Bros. Discovery’s mass cancelations.