It’s odd that no Latino character has yet headlined a superhero movie, but that changes this year as Jaime Reyes leads the big screen adaptation of DC Comics’ Blue Beetle.  Played by Xolo Maridueña, at first blush the young man who becomes a superhero seems a mirror image of Marvel Comics’s Spider-Man, complete with the MCU’s Spidey version of the Iron Man suit and Rebbeca Gomez aka Becky G’s voice in his head subbing for Jennifer Connelly’s E.D.I.T.H. for Spidey.  The costume also looks like a duplicate of the bugman Yellowjacket from Marvel’s Ant-Man.

This guy is different.  Yes, it is yet another origin story and coming-of-age story at that, but this time at the college grad level, and following shows like Luke Cage, Black Lightning, and Ms. Marvel, Blue Beetle captures another community and community story that is under-represented in the superhero mythos, featuring the third incarnation of the superhero straight out of the comics pages.

Check out this new trailer for Blue Beetle:

Will this be another fun DCU entry like the Shazam! movies?  Blue Beetle co-stars Adriana Barraza as Jaime’s grandmother, Damián Alcázar as Jaime’s father, George Lopez as Jaime’s uncle, Bruna Marquezine as Jaime’s girlfriend, and in the villain camp, Raoul Max Trujillo as Conrad Carapax / Indestructible Man, and Susan Sarandon as Victoria Kord.

Blue Beetle arrives in theaters August 18, 2023.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg