Based on a DC character that originally appeared in 1939. ‘Blue Beetle’ is about a teenager named Jaime Reyes, a young Mexican-American who comes into the possession of a mystical scarab of unknown origin that attaches to his body and grants him a “living” costume that becomes fused with his spine, granting him the ability to summon a powerful armoured suit.
1939
Blue Beetle first appeared back in 1939, he was a staple of the now-defunct Fox Comics and even had his own weekly radio serial. DC Comics bought a superhero line-up from Charlton comics in the 1980s, which included Blue Beetle.
3
DC superheroes have a tradition of passing down their names and mantles to younger successors over the years. There have been 3 different Blue Beetles so far in comic history. The current version, Jaime Reyes was introduced in 2006’s ‘Infinite Crisis’ storyline.
7
Blue Beetle has appeared as a playable character in 7 different video games so far.
A BUGS LIFE
In a genre often dominated by multi-verses & huge world ending stakes, the new Blue Beetle movie takes a step back and keeps the dangers more grounded in everyday life issues. The film-makers wanted Blue Beetle to be the hero of his family and his community before he becomes hero of the world.
LATINO HERO
Cobra Kai star Xolo Maridueña plays the first ever lead Latino superhero in a live action film, which allowed the film makers to build a world mixed with Latin culture. Alongside Xolo the film features heavyweights of Mexican film & television including Elpidia Carrillo, Damián Alcázar & Adriana Barraza.
BEETLE ON THE BOX
Blue Beetle has already appeared on screen in a number of TV adaptations. He showed up in the final season of Smallville (played by Jaren Brandt Bartlett), has played a major role in the animated series Young Justice (voiced by Eric Lopez) & appeared in ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’. In 2010 ‘Blue Beetle’ had his own live action TV series announced, sadly only a teaser trailer was released and the TV show never made it to air.
THE BEETLES
The movie pays homage to the costumes worn by the two other Blue Beetle’s in the 1930’s & 1960’s comics, showing the classic suits as a background easter egg for fans to spot. Star Xolo Maridueña has said his new suit featuring an impenetrable exoskeleton is the coolest from the entire DC universe.
The MOVIE THAT BUILT US
Director Angel Manuel Soto recently shared that this movie is a homage to the Latin cinema he grew up with, and has taken inspiration from the classic 1960 Mexican supernatural film ‘Macario’.“The magic realism of ‘Macario’ is stuck with me”, the director said, “I was like, ‘Man, why don’t we pay homage to the movie that built us? Why don’t we pay homage to the movie that we can say is Latin cinema?’”
BLUE BEETLE is now showing in Irish Cinemas