‘Blue Beetle’ director champions absent cast as ‘heroes’ at the film’s premiere

Blue Beetle is being released during a tumultuous time in Hollywood. Well, perhaps that’s putting it mildly. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA have been on strike, meaning that writers and actors are not contributing to, or promoting, Hollywood projects until their proposed working conditions are met.

This makes it difficult for any major release that’s currently in theaters, as part of the way to promote a film is to have stars go on talk shows, podcasts, and red carpets to explain why said film is worth seeing. Ángel Manuel Soto was the only major creative figure to appear on the Blue Beetle red carpet, but the director made it clear that he was in support of what his writers and actors are picketing for.

“They cannot be here today. But you know what? They’re fighting the good fight,” Soto told Variety. “It’s very important that we understand that they are heroes right now. They’re sacrificing this big opportunity to see themselves.” The notion of seeing one’s self in the character of Blue Beetle has been something that the director has been adamant about since the pre-production stages. Especially when it comes Latino viewers.

“We put our heart and soul into [Blue Beetle] because we want you guys to feel welcome to our stories,” Soto explained. “Don’t fear Spanish, don’t fear Mexican heritage, don’t fear Latino heritage. We want you guys to join the party with us.” The director has been forced to do most of the interviews and promotional work for the DC blockbuster, as the DGA (Directors Guild of America) was able to make an agreement with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) back in June.

Blue Beetle focuses on Jamie Reyes (Xolo Maridueña), a Los Angeles high school student who finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien technology. The technology chooses Jamie to be its symbiotic host, thus turning him into the titular superhero. Maridueña is part of SAG-AFTRA, so all his comments on the film were made several months ago. That said, Soto recently posted a clip of the actor being told that he got the part of Jamie.

The clip shows Maridueña’s emotional reaction to the news, then cuts to Soto talking to Maridueña’s mother on a video call. “You’ve got a very special son,” the director can be heard saying. “We are very proud of him, and we trust that he’s going to be able to represent this superhero in a way that will make us all proud.”

Maridueña posted an Instagram video (see above) of his own when SAG/AFTRA confirmed that they were going on strike. The actor wrote a lengthy caption, and spoke directly to the fans regarding his decision to not promote the film. “The people who are asking for the right to live and work and thrive in the business should be allowed to and should be able to,” he explained. “We had so much great stuff aligned, and I really wish that we could get it to you guys, but we need to stand on the right side of history.”

Blue Beetle is scheduled to hit theaters on Friday, Aug. 18.