David Ayer is showing support for Blue Beetle, DC’s first Latino-led superhero movie. “Representation matters,” the 2016’s Suicide Squad director tweeted in response to a video highlighting the Blue Beetle familia: cast members Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai), Belissa Escobedo (Hocus Pocus 2), Bruna Marquezine (Maldivas), and George Lopez (Lopez vs Lopez). Zack Snyder — who directed DC’s Watchmen before going on to helm Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League — previously highlighted that message on Twitter / X. “Looking forward to taking my kids to see Blue Beetle,” Snyder wrote with the hashtag “#RepresentationMatters.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
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; Escobedo as his sister, Milagro; Lopez 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 at a Blue Beetle trailer reveal in April. “We wanted [the audience to] feel like, ‘Yeah, that’s my uncle,’ or ‘I can totally relate to that.’”
The plot centers on Mexican-American superhero Jaime Reyes (Maridueña), who possesses an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab, a.k.a. Khaji-Da (voiced by Becky G). Whenthe Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he isbestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary andunpredictable powers — transforming him into the armored superhero Blue Beetle. And unlike most superhero origin stories, Jaime’s not-so-secret identity is immediately exposed to the Reyes family.
“It’s kind of funny. We see some of these othersuperheroes who are able to hide the fact that they’re a superhero fromtheir family. But as you just saw in the trailer, his family is rightthere on that first transformation. So good luck keeping that a secret,” Maridueña said.”Coming through this journey together is something that we haven’t seenbefore in superhero movies, and that really is the beating heart of thismovie. It transcends ethnicity and it transcends color of skin —because that’s something we can all relate to.”
DC’s Blue Beetle opens only in theaters August 18th.
