As Marvel remains in the spotlight with their newest release, Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, DC just announced the release date of their newest endeavor, Blue Beetle. With the movie originally set to make an HBO Max debut, it got bumped to a theatrical release. The movie will drop August 18, 2023. With this movie being DC’s first superhero movie starring a Latino character, many are excited about the representation.

“While DC has had Latino characters in its movie universe, (Jay Hernandez as El Diablo in Suicide Squad, and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya in Birds of Prey), and cast Latina Sasha Calle to play Supergirl in The Flash, this will be the first stand-alone title to feature a Latino lead,” says The Wrap.

Cobra Kai star, Xolo Maridueña will be playing the role of Jaime Reyes. Other stars who will be in the movie include: Harvey Guillén, Susan Sarandon, Elpidia Carrillo, Raoul Max Trujillo, George Lopez, Bruna Marquezine, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, and Belissa Escobedo.

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Photo Courtesy of: Wikipedia

Xolo Maridueña

In the comics, Blue Beetle is used as an alter ego for three different heroes, but the movie will focus on teenager Jaime Reyes, the third character to assume the role of Blue Beetle.

Even though Blue Beetle has been portrayed on camera before, this is an important torch passing moment. Blue Beetle has come from archaeologist Dan Garrett, who discovered a scarab in an Egyptian tomb that gave him superpowers, Ted Kord, who had no superpowers but carried on the legacy with his wits and fists. Now the torch is being passed onto Jaime Reyes.

“The most recent Blue Beetle is Jaime Reyes, a teenager from El Paso, Texas who bonded with Dan Garrett’s Scarab. The artifact gave him incredible alien armor which he used to defend his hometown from all manner of meta-human criminals,” explains DC Comics.

Since 1939, there has been a Blue Beetle in the DC Universe. Viewers have seen him as a solo adventurer or working in a team as seen in Justice League and the Teen Titans. The original voice actor of Blue Beetle is excited to watch the new release for many reasons.

“A Latino actor playing him, that’s what I think I’m looking forward to the most. It was a different time, and I was very close with the casting directors, and I know that they looked everywhere at the time to find a Latino voice-over actor. I was just hitting the comedy beats better. You look back at that, as we all look back at it, and wish it was a Latino actor playing Jaime for the first time. So that’s what I’m looking forward to the most, watching an actor, who I very much admire because I am a Cobra Kai fan. That’s what I can’t wait to see, is Jaime Reyes fully getting his due,” states Will Friedle.

Even though the movie doesn’t release for another 15 months, many are excited to see Jaime Reyes come to life, but more importantly people are excited to see the representation of a Mexican-American playing the role.