Could Blue Beetle deliver a surprise win for DC?
The first superhero film with meaningful Latino representation arrives without the baggage that weighed down recent DC titles (*cough* The Flash *cough*)
Film Features Blue Beetle
This hasn’t been a great year so far for DC superhero movies. Shazam: Fury Of The Gods made less in its entire theatrical run ($134 million) than The Super Mario Bros. Movie did in its first weekend ($146.3 million). And the less said about the mess that was The Flash, the better. Which brings us to DC Studios’ next release, Blue Beetle, opening in theaters on August 18. Saving the world is one thing, but having the fate of an entire studio franchise in your hands is something no superhero would relish. Not only that, but Blue Beetle is the first superhero movie with significant Latino representation both on and off-screen, so industry folks will be watching its performance closely. Those are some pretty high stakes for a late summer release based on a mid-tier comic-book character most moviegoers haven’t heard of.
There are signs that Blue Beetle is up to the challenge. Warner Bros. has done its part to boost awareness of the film. The trailer is currently running in theaters before every showing of Barbie, and at most showings of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles too. There’s plenty of Blue Beetle merch and toys in stores right now, and even a tie-in promotion with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. You may have seen the poster on billboards, benches, and buses, or the many targeted ad spots on TV and online. And early preview screenings have already generated enthusiastically positive responses from critics.
Representation matters
One emerging theme is that Blue Beetle strives to deliver an unapologetically authentic representation of Latino culture. The film tells the origin story of Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña), a college graduate from a Mexican-American family who’s still figuring out his life when he comes into contact with a powerful alien relic that gives him superpowers. Unlike other heroes who have to hide their secret identity from their loved ones, Jaime’s family is fully aware of his fantastic new abilities. He’s supported on his path to heroism by his mother (Elpidia Carrillo), father (Damían Alcázar), sister (Belissa Escobedo), uncle (George Lopez), and Nana (Adriana Barraza). As screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer puts it in the film’s production notes: “Good luck trying to hide a secret from your mom in a Latino household, they always know!”
Although Blue Beetle marks a big step forward for representation, Jaime isn’t the first Hispanic or Latino comic-book hero we’ve seen in live-action. On television, The CW’s Arrowverse had Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), who became Vibe, ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had Yo-Yo Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley), an inhuman, and the Robbie Reyes incarnation of Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna). And there was Molly Hernandez (Allegra Acosta) on Runaways. In film, the record is spottier and limited to supporting players like Sunspot in X-Men: Days of Future Past and El Diablo in Suicide Squad. With all those qualifiers out of the way, we can still safely say that Blue Beetle is the first Latino comic-book character to star in his own live-action solo film.
Beyond the screen
The Latino presence on the film extends behind the scenes as well. Dunnet-Alcocer grew up in Queretaro, Mexico, while director Ángel Manuel Soto is Puerto Rican. Prior to Blue Beetle, Soto was best known for his film Charm City Kings, which made a splash at Sundance in 2020, winning a Jury Prize for its ensemble. A planned theatrical release was canceled due to the pandemic and the film eventually landed on HBO Max (you won’t find it on the newly branded Max anymore, though—Charm City Kings was one of several titles removed from the service last year). In an ironic twist of fate, Blue Beetle was originally intended to go directly to streaming, but wound up getting a full release in theaters instead.
Dunnet-Alcocer and Soto both infused their individual cultural backgrounds into the film, showcasing their shared values of humor, warmth, and family, not to mention specific pop-culture references aimed directly at Latino audiences. Other Latino creatives also got a chance to make their mark on the film, from the costumes designed by Mayes Rubeo to the concept art by members of 9B Collective.
The film already has the support of several Latino organizations in Hollywood, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, LA Collab, Latino Film Institute, National Association of Latino Independent Producers, and the National Hispanic Media Coalition. In a letter of support published in Variety and co-signed by 27 different groups, members of the Latino community in the entertainment industry expressed their optimism about the progress represented by films like Blue Beetle, “the first superhero movie directed, written, and starring Latinos,” and encouraged others to amplify the work in the absence of writers and actors currently on strike.
A new beginning for the DCU
DC Studios is currently in the awkward phase of winding down its Justice League universe—including Ben Affleck’s Batman, Henry Cavill’s Superman, and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman—and heading in a new direction under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran. Blue Beetle was one of the few films set in motion by the old regime whose characters could potentially carry into the new one. That will likely depend on how well it does at the box office.
The Latino pedigree is a major part of its appeal, but there are other factors at work that could help the film succeed. For one thing, although Blue Beetle is a DC property, this is essentially a standalone film. At least, that’s how it’s been marketed. There was a time when that would have been seen as a drawback, but now it’s an advantage. It doesn’t rely on any previous connections to the DCEU and it’s not burdened by complicated continuity. There’s no homework required.
Another thing it has going for it is that it wasn’t constantly in the news for the wrong reasons. There were no major behind-the-scenes squabbles, creative differences, talent departures, or extensive reshoots. The creative team didn’t have to make any major adjustments to the story to keep it in line with franchise continuity. That in itself may not necessarily be a draw for audiences, but it helps to not actively deter them.
Whether all of this can overcome the very real and growing phenomenon of superhero fatigue remains to be seen, but for the first time in a long time there’s a chance that DC might break through the noise by offering a fresh, creative, and authentic take on the genre that audiences haven’t seen before. And if Blue Beetle does that, it will be cause for celebration among fans too.
86 Comments
I really hope it does well. The trailer left me underwhelmed, which I’m pretty sure is due more to superhero fatigue than anything else. I also really liked the comic reboot, which I’m guessing inspired this story a bit.
Same, the concept sounded interesting but the trailer felt pretty run of the mill. There are so many movies out right now that I want to watch more so it might be a while before I get to this one. I’m cautiously optimistic though.
The trailer did a great job of de-emphasizing the main thing that sets this movie apart. There would be loads of hype for this film already if DC had chosen to play up the Latino angle, but they seem terrified to do that so instead the movie is pretty much being buried.If they were going to ignore a superhero movie it should have been The Flash, but leave it to a big studio to decide that what people want is 50 cameos per minute instead of an actual story.
I’m not sure if we watched different trailers, but I don’t see anyone watching that and not having it occur to them that 1) the protagonist is Latino, 2) his family, heavily featured, in the trailer, are working class Latinos, and 3) they got George Lopez.Honestly, I remember there being two or three lines devoted to whatever the beetle thing is (“It’s alien tech!” “It belongs to me!” etc.) I agree those are the least interesting part, but I don’t think anybody is going to walk into this expecting it to be a lore dump about aliens.
Yeah, you can’t tell the film is about a Latino family when the only thing the trailer shows is the Latino family 🙄.
I don’t know I am not huge on the DCEU movies, though I have seen them all, but this actually looks like a lot of fun to me.
It looks a lot like the Blue Beetle story in the Young Justice series, which I liked.
I always liked the Ted Kord version, so was begrudgingly reading the reboot with Jaime, and it really won me over. I just like the Iron-Man-meets-Greatest-American-Hero kinda concept. The character’s arc on Young Justice was great too.(Though I am a little worried by the trailer scene where he’s flipping around that giant sword. He knows martial arts moves just from wearing the armor?)Not going to rush to the theater to see this, but I’ll see it at some point.
The trailer was truly awful. The Latino aspect is the ONE thing the movie has going for it and I don’t think it’s going to be enough.
I saw a recut trailer yesterday (finally saw Barbie) and it played a lot better for me. Even a good Batman joke!
I know people don’t like this criticism, but it literally looks like a CW show.
Criticism? For live action the CW shows were more entertaining than the movies DC has been churning out.
The CW superhero shows are both better and far more popular than the DC movies so maybe it’s not an insult at all.
That’s not an insult so much as a compliment
it probably would’ve worked better as a CW show if not for the effects budget
Agreed
I totally did not realize that Elpidia Carrillo is playing Blue Beetle’s mother. Always nice to see her in things, have loved her ever since Predator.
This is how I feel as a What We Do In The Shadows fan who wants to see the film for Harvey Guillén (who’s playing one of the villains).
My kids are excited for it, but in terms of story the trailers don’t seem to be giving the impression it’s an origin story any different than we’ve seen a dozen times before.
I plan on seeing it this weekend. I liked the Flash but understood why some wouldn’t. This seems fun like the 1st Shazam movie.
short answer yes with an if, long answer no with a but.
I see Blue Beetle going up against Betteridge and losing here.
having the fate of an entire studio franchise in your hands is something no superhero would relishI realize we all have the attention spans of a six week old Irish Setter these days, but every movie release is not a referendum on an entire studio/genre/industry.
‘what zapped!’s failure means for the teen sex comedy industrial complex. is teen sex comedy fatigue to blame?’
also‘what zapped!’s success on video means for the teen sex industrial complex. is direct-to-video the future?’
Hey, the Backdoor XXX Teen Sluts series started out on VHS in the eighties and has been going strong ever since without a single theatre release.
ok i can barely remember the premise for Zapped – didn’t Chachi have some weird telekinesis that was basically used to cause girls’ clothes to fly off. Sort of a “guy’s fantasy” gender-swapped version of Carrie
i’ve only seen the vhs cover.
There’s only so many times people can see Barbie and Sound of Freedom, nothing else is out so Blue Beetle should be a hit. Also, representation doesn’t matter.
This movie was dead before it ever released.
People don’t care about representation in the movies. What they care about are meaningful stories. This movie was killed before it was released by Gunn and no amount of “representation” is going to save it.
Exactly. Apparently this is a very boring by the number origin story but with a Latino. Who cares ? Most people don’t. The few that do – and good for them – are not enough to save it.
Merch sales are irrelevant. If no one watches the movie, why would they buy the merch? That makes no sense. You’ll have tons of discount merch on shelves next month. Sold at a huge loss.This only ends one way for DC. Failure. A self inflicted wound. I like Soto, but I won’t even rent this.
If it succeeds, it’ll have done so despite how thoroughly the old DCEU well has been poisoned. The toys definitely look neat, so there’s that!
Yeah, this has a ton of obstacles. There’s the fact that DC has a bad rep because most all their movies fall somewhere from bad to middling at best. There’s the fact that Blue Beetle is an obscure character to the wider audience. There’s the fact that it doesn’t have the best release date. Really the only thing it has going for it is the possibility that Latino audiences might (emphasis on might) come out in droves to support it. But this has all the elements in place for a bomb that’s quickly forgotten about.
In film, the record is spottier and limited to supporting players like Sunspot in X-Men: Days of Future Past and El Diablo in Suicide Squad.Pardon me if I have it wrong and I’m being ignorant, but does America Chavez not count?
Or the half-Puerto Rican Miles Morales?
I mean Morales has always been marketed as the first black spiderman. It was spiderman 2099 who was marketed as the first latino spiderman
I feel like she *would’ve* counted, had her character been anything other than a plot device on legs.FUCK did I hate that movie.
I would imagine her being from the Utopian Parallel might mean she’s not technically Latina, though the actress certainly is. Also Miles Morales is half Puerto Rican.That doesn’t mean more representation is bad, but this seems like sloppy writing.
Miles isn’t in live-action though and the discussion was about live-action representation. I mean I’m sure we will get a live-action Miles eventually, but the one we have now isn’t.
I mean Morales has always been marketed as the first black spiderman. It was spiderman 2099 who was marketed as the first latino spiderman
Her origins have since been retconned to be far less interesting: In the series America Chavez: Made in the USA, what Chavez knew about her background was called into question. Her previously unknown sister, Catalina, forced her to remember that her mothers were not aliens, but human doctors Amalia and Elena Chavez.[87] The doctors took their daughters to a private island called the Utopian Parallel to attempt to cure the disease Edges Syndrome, but discovered their benefactor had evil plans for all the girls brought there.[88][87] Chavez gained her superpowers across experiments conducted on her as a child, when she was exposed to extra-dimensional energies.[89][90][1][91] The doctors sacrificed themselves to free America and Catalina, but only America escaped. Catalina suggests that America made up the alien universe story as a coping mechanism
That’s all fair, but the movie certainly implied alien universe.
I mean, “you forgot this one example of a supporting character from a two-year old move” does not make a great case for robust tradition of superheroes from that ethnic background.
This article also forgot Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with Namor and the entire nation of Talokan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines
Thank god I don’t need to have seen another movie to enjoy/understand this one. I’m in.
Xolo Maridueña is SO fun and charming in Cobra Kai! I hope this is the start of great things for him.
I’d love to see this do well, but isn’t the tracking right now isn’t great. They’re saying a $30 million opener on a $120 million budget with tracking a week ago being at $12 – $23 million which makes it seem like it’s still going to be an uphill battle.If we’re going to celebrate a $30 million opening here, we may need to rewrite some of the other articles about failed openings…
if the opening goes above 20 million i will eat my hat.
I sort of agree with you but want the movie to do well. I gave you a star because I assume you meant this literally, and don’t want to miss the video just in case it does more than 20 opening weekend.
Yeah that $120 million budget before marketing is the problem. If Hollywood just limit the budget to $70-90 million before marketing they could break even. Considering how ticket sales only boost up by hype or viral marketing this day, they should focus on that. Barbenheimer had popular stars and directors in it, but it’s the hype that made it profitable. Unless all of the Latin community could boost the ticket sales like Black Panther or Crazy Rich Asian, it’s going to be a tough battle.
I think that if it can make back its production budget and do well on Max that may be a win at that point, but I’m side eying AVClub acting like Blue Beetle is on its way to an opening weekend to celebrate. If we are going to celebrate $30 million on a $120 budget, I expect a bunch of retractions on how badly other movies have failed.I wish that it would do well for the sake of representation, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
This movie wasn’t meant to have a theatrical release it was supposed to go straight to Max
The budget is crazy for how cheap it looks.
I mean I don’t know how much $120 million gets you anymore. I don’t mean that flippantly, but I don’t think something like Indiana Jones cost $300 million just because they wanted to throw money at it. $100 – $150 million is like the new mid-range as unsettling as that thought is.
Maybe I’m not watching the right movies/TV shows, or live in the wrong area, but I have not seen nearly as much advertising for BB as this article implies there is. I mean I hope it does well, I really do. I’ve always liked the character in the comics of his I’ve read, (and as a DC fanboy, fuck, we really need a win) but I just don’t think this is gonna do well. Really should’ve stayed direct-to-streaming imo… but then again maybe it is better to stay away from Max when shit gets dumped from there at random by Mad King Zaslav.
I’m seeing a ton of ads for it on YouTube, but, presumably that’s at least partially due to the sorts of things I watch on YouTube.
I watch a ton of nerdy shit on YouTube but I haven’t seen a single Blue Beetle promo. That execrable-looking Will Ferrell talking dog comedy on the other hand…
Must be the algorithm. I haven’t seen the dog movie ads, at all.
I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if Strays beat it this weekend
Regardless of how well it does, I’m hyped. Been a Jaime Reyes fan (obviously) since his introduction in the comics, and as a Mexican-American, it IS nice to see yourself represented on screen.
I’m hope this being an origin story and homework not required will help the movie. If the strike wasn’t happening I’m sure having Xolo and cast do some of those short video interviews, late night talk show, even some behind the scene featurette on max would be a great help for this movie. What are the rules for Soto doing a “directors only” round table and discussing film making as a promotion for Blue Beetle?
If this film fails, I hope people properly blame the genre, not the cultural backgrounds of its leads and creative team. But, whatever happens, it’s not as if Gunn-Safran will be hostile to inclusive films, TV, etc. Serious question: what was the last superhero film to meet or exceed its projections? I feel like it’s been a long while since there was something truly culturally impactful from the genre.
even the ones that have met or exceeded expectations seem to be widely disliked. dr strange 2, black panther 2 and thor 4 all did really well (though bp2 did not perform as well as the original), but at best are thought of as ‘fine’. obviously guardians 3 did well and is well-liked, but it’s not really a ‘superhero movie’ is it? those movies kind of existed in their own space, which was a big part of their success.the batman, maybe? i bet warner bros was hoping for a billion though. and with the weird place dc movies are in i feel like it might end up having an ‘oh yeah, that one.’ reputation.
‘”the batman, maybe? i bet warner bros was hoping for a billion though. and with the weird place dc movies are in i feel like it might end up having an ‘oh yeah, that one.’ reputation.”’Nah, they’ve got their billion already from Barbie they’re not worried about getting a billion from their superhero movies…
Wakanda Forever has review scores and a Cinemascore on par with The Batman and Guardians 3 (and much better than Dr.Strange 2 and Thor 4) and made more money than both even without its star from the previous movie, but the reception was just “fine”?
Maybe we’re just trapped in a mindset that any superhero film earning anything less than a billion+ just feels like a so-so performance, whatever the accountants might think. Maybe the truth is that superheroes can still make money but that the heyday is long gone.
Spider-Man No Way Home
but feels like that just underscores that we’re back at a place where Bats and Spidey are the only reliable box office earners among superheroes (barring an Avengers movie, maybe.. we’ll see how the next one does.. eventually lol)
You know, that was RIGHT THERE and I completely overlooked it because it’s animation (shame on me). Yes, an inclusive and inventive film proves superheroes can be thrilling, financially successful and what everyone’s most annoying family members would call “woke.”
I hope this movie succeeds but I don’t think it’s very likely. One thing it has going for it is that he has his family behind him from the beginning. That’s not something you see too often in superhero shows/movies.
When I saw this trailer I thought they missed an opportunity to swap the lead and launch a female led superhero teen origin story. But the tailer is all the reference I have. Just kind of worn out on the traditional superhero story.
The best thing this film has going for it is that there are so few movies seemingly getting released these days. If people want dumb popcorn fare, this may fit that.
I want it to do well because I love Xolo Mariduena.COBRA KAI NEVER DIES!
I don’t even have a desire to watch this for free online. I predict another DC box office bomb here.
Yes, or, alternatively, no.
Last I heard, they were projecting $50 mill lifetime box office, so being a hit vs a $140 mil budget will definitely be a surprise.I hope it does well, but a lesser known hero with no box office draw stars to back it up seems a poor bet.
I only know Blue Beetle from Injustice 2, and he came across like a hodgepodge of other superhero ideas. I’ll be real: I’m not going to see this.I like Xolo from Cobra Kai, and I actually quite liked the trailer (which I’m surprised everyone is slamming) and I don’t think I’ve ever seen George Lopez in a big movie before, which is enticing. This might be good, it might not, but for me, the fatigue is real. I skipped Ant-man, I skipped Shazam, I skipped Guardians. When I actually went to the cinema for The Flash, I instantly regretted it. I just wait for streaming with these.
Nope, it won’t.
This looks like it’s chock full of that awful dialogue that was cool 10 years ago, Joss Whedon style baloney. The only way i’ll see this is with a bingo card that has ‘Did I just do that?’ as the free space.
I’m reading the comments and I’m wondering if the advertising budget is going too hard on the Latino Market. I’m in Puerto Rico and I can’t do anything without seeing Blue Beetle everywhere.
There’s a meme running in latino nerd groups about going to see Blue Beetle in theaters August 18th, that has expanded beyond the usual niche groups where I would expect that.
My sister got the chance to go see it at the San Juan premiere and loved it. I think a lot of people will be very surprised.
would like to see it succeed but guessing it flops even if its received well critically (which, feels like the jury’s still out on that)
I’m really torn with this movie. I don’t really care for the character or connect with the trailer, but I support Latino representation and DC deserves a win. I guess I’ll wait and see.
Strays looks better