Maybe it will be next year’s Blue Beetle film that will truly be responsible for changing the hierarchy of power in the DC universe, and not Black Adam, after all. At least, that’s what you might believe after reading what Warner Bros.’ president of DC films, Walter Hamada, told Blue Beetle star Xolo Maridueña.
When Maridueña met up with Hamada and another WB executive, Galen Vaisman, it turned out to be a meeting that informed the actor he already landed the role. Leading up to a surprise meeting with Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto, screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, the film’s producers, and others, Hamada reportedly set Maridueña aside to settle his anticipation, saying in part that the superhero will be “really important” to the DCEU. As Maridueña recalled Hamada telling him (per The Hollywood Reporter),
“Look Xolo, this role of Blue Beetle is going to be really important to this universe. We want to just make sure that whoever we go with is a real person and we’re not just hiring a face. It’s about more than what’s in front of the camera.”
Blue Beetle is set to be DC’s first movie led by a Latino actor, according to THR. When he was eventually told he landed the role, despite not being tasked with reading dialogue from the film vis-à-vis a traditional audition, Maridueña said it was an “overwhelming” revelation that caused his throat to “close up” and his eyes to “water.”
Maridueña already stars in the hit show and Karate Kid spinoff, Cobra Kai, but in 2023 he will also be making his mark on cinema screens as Jaime Reyes, AKA Blue Beetle.
Blue Beetle‘s story focuses on a “Mexican teenager [who] finds an alien beetle that gives him superpowered armor,” according to its synopsis on IMDb.
Blue Beetle is expected to premiere in theaters next year, on August 18, 2023. In the meantime, you can catch Maridueña in the fifth season of Cobra Kai on Netflix on September 9.