‘It’s subtle and it’s nuanced’: ‘Blue Beetle’ baddie promises he won’t be another cookie cutter comic book villain

We’re just a few days out from the cinematic bow of Blue Beetle, the penultimate film in the DC Extended Universe whose mixed fortunes so far include poor marketing and the James Gunn seal of approval (which, given that the titular hero is set to be a part of the new DC Universe, is unsurprising). But, no matter what ups and downs have found it up to now, Blue Beetle‘s success will, of course, ultimately boil down to the merits it shows up with on the big screen.

One thing is for sure; it has all the right ingredients for a great story. Xolo Maridueña is set to step into the shoes of Jaime Reyes, a recent college graduate whose job hunt inadvertently leads him to merging with the alien relic known as the Scarab and becoming the superhero Blue Beetle, all while the notorious Kord Industries prepares to gun for that very same tech (and, by extension, his head). Indeed, Jaime’s story just might pack a bit more of a thematic punch than what we’re used to seeing from DC.

And while businesswoman Victoria Kord looks to be the main antagonist, it wouldn’t be a superhero movie if there wasn’t a second, less-heroic superhuman for Jaime to tango with, and Conrad Carapax – aka Indestructible Man – certainly sounds like he fits that bill with his name alone.

But, according to one Raoul Max Trujillo – the talent behind Conrad – we shouldn’t expect just another punchable face. In a recent interview with Screen Rant, the actor teased that there’s much more going on with his superpowered bodyguard than maybe meets the eye.

It’s subtle and it’s nuanced, but it’s there behind his eyes, behind every command given to him. You see something going on, and you’re not quite sure what it is. As the film goes on, his humanity is completely revealed.

It could very well be a case of Trujillo having an intimacy with Conrad that we audiences could never imagine to have, but the actor’s very particular, dense divulgence on the matter indicates that Conrad may actually go down as one of the DCEU’s finest scene-stealers.

In any case, we’ll all be finding out the truth before long when Blue Beetle zips into cinemas on Aug. 18.