DC’s Blue Beetle has finally arrived—well, the first trailer for the film, at any rate! Much has been made of this being the first DC movie to focus on a Latino superhero: Jame Reyes (Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña), whose first encounter with a strange piece of alien technology makes up a lot of this first look at the film.
Buy the Book
Some Desperate Glory
I regret to report that this movie looks unfortunately like a CW-grade series. Blue Beetle deserves his own introduction, not one that’s cobbled together from bits of over-familiar superhero tidbits (Iron Man’s space reentry, Spider-Man’s female-voiced suit, a bus scene that immediately recalls Shang-Chi). But, as ever, it’s only a first trailer; perhaps it’s saving all the good stuff for later.
After all, this does end with a pretty great line. But first we have to get through some run-of-the-mill new-power hijinks, culminating in Reyes saying “Let’s party!” while wielding a big-ass sword.
Blue Beetle builds on the third incarnation of the character, who was introduced in 2006. His relationship with the alien scarab is somewhat fraught: as noted in the trailer, it doesn’t always do what he wants. But on the plus side, he doesn’t have to hide his powers from his family—since they’re there when the scarab attaches itself to him. Here’s the summary:
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.
Blue Beetle is directed by Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings). The cast includes George Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Raoul Trujillo, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, and Harvey Guillén.
It arrives in theaters August 18th.
