Blue Beetle Movie Synopsis Introduces Armored DC Superhero Jaime Reyes

An ancient Scarab and a suit of alien armor transform Jaime Reyes into DC's first Latino superhero in Blue Beetle. Warner Bros. on Monday dropped the first footage from DC's Blue Beetle movie introducing Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Reyes, the third hero to inherit the legendary mantle in DC Comics after golden age crime-fighter Dan Garrett and the silver age's Ted Kord. A Mexican-American college graduate hailing from Palmera City, the DC Universe upgrades its newest high-tech hero when Jaime forms a symbiotic bond with the Scarab to become the Blue Beetle. 

According to a new plot synopsis: "Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero Blue Beetle." 

Maridueña leads a cast that includes Adriana Barraza (Rambo: Last Blood) as Jaime's grandmother, Nana; Damían Alcázar (Narcos) as his father, Alberto; Elpidia Carrillo (Mayans M.C.) as his mother, Bianca; Belissa Escobedo (Hocus Pocus 2) as his sister, Milagro; George Lopez (The George Lopez Show) as Jaime's Uncle Rudy; and Bruna Marquezine (God Save the King) as Jenny Kord. Blue Beetle also stars Raoul Max Trujillo (Sicario) as the villain Carapax, the indestructible man, Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) as Dr. Sanchez, and Susan Sarandon (Monarch) as Victoria Kord, who in the comics is the CEO sister of Ted Kord. 

"We wanted to keep it as authentic as possible, not Hallmark, cookie-cutter Latinos," director Angel Manuel Soto told ComicBook and other outlets about making DC's first Latino-led superhero movie during a Blue Beetle trailer reveal. "We wanted [the audience to] feel like, 'Yeah, that's my uncle,' or 'I can totally relate to that.'"

Added Maridueña, "It's kind of funny: We see some of these other superheroes who are able to hide the fact that they're a superhero from their family. But as you just saw in the trailer, his family is right there on that first transformation. So good luck keeping that a secret! Coming through this journey together is something that we haven't seen before in superhero movies, and that really is the beating heart of this movie. It transcends ethnicity and it transcends color of skin — because that's something we can all relate to."

Soto (Charm City Kings) directs from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Bala), based on characters from DC. John Rickard (Peacemaker) and Zev Foreman (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) are producing, with Walter Hamada (The Batman), Galen Vaisman (The Flash), and Garrett Grant (The Matrix Resurrections) serving as executive producers. DC's Blue Beetle opens only in theaters August 18th.