Warner Bros. have released the first trailer for the Blue Beetle movie, directed by Angel Manuel Soto, and starring Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle:
The trailer primarily consists of one, pivotal scene: Jaime returns home after receiving a mysterious package from his friend Penny (Bruna Marquezine), an employee of Kord Industries, which turns out to be the titular alien scarab. Said scarab bonds to Jaime before his entire family — including his sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo), and uncle Rudy (George Lopez) — and sends him rocketing into space, before falling back to Earth, where he just manages to summon the suit’s wings to stop himself from drowning.
The rest of the trailer shows Jaime mastering his nanotech powers (accidentally cutting a bus in half along the way), and coming into conflict with Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) and henchman Carapax (Raoul Trujillo), who want the scarab for their own nefarious ends. The exact nature of Victoria’s relation to Ted Kord, Jaime’s predecessor from the comics, is not stated, although Ted’s suit, and that of his own predecessor Dan Garrett, are seen in a hideout uncovered by Jaime, Penny, Milagro, and Rudy. Ted Kord’s aircraft, the Bug, is also seen being used by the whole Reyes clan.
Originally intended as a HBO Max exclusive, Blue Beetle will be released in theaters on August 18. It will mark the first live-action film starring a Hispanic superhero, and the first DC film after The Flash resets the shared live-action film & TV universe. Assuming the film is a success, one can expect Maridueña to return as Jaime in many, many more DC projects.
