Between Black Adam and the recent Shazam sequel, it’s pretty safe to say that the DC Comics Extended Universe films have had a pretty rough go lately. With any luck, the upcoming The Flash film will rejuvenate fans’ excitement for DC Comics’ pantheon of superheroes. The decision to push The Marvels to a fall release can only mean good news for the upcoming Blue Beetle film arriving in theaters this summer. Directed by Angel Manuel Soto from a script by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, the film stars Cobra Kai actor Xolo Maridueña as the titular hero. Today Warner Bros. released the first Blue Beetle trailer. 

Introduced in 2005, the current Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, is a Hispanic teenager living in El Paso, TX who discovers an alien scarab that, once bonded with him, gives him a superpowered suit of armor. The character was developed by Keith GiffenJohn Rogers, and Cully Hamner, first appearing during the Infinite Crisis event series.

The Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle has appeared in live action on-screen before, featured in an episode from the final season of Smallville in which he was played by actor Jaren Brandt Bartlett. The character also received a lot of visibility with younger audiences as a recurring guest-star on the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon, as well as as a team member on the Young Justice animated series. Test footage for a potential live-action TV series for the character, a spin-off from his Smallville appearance, was revealed by DC back in 2010, though nothing came of the Alex Winter-directed footage.

Official description:

Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.

In addition to Maridueña , other actors in the film include Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Adriana Barraza and George Lopez. Whether or not we’ll see OG Blue Beetle Ted Kord appear in some form remains to be seen. However, we know Kord will indeed have some sort of presence through the character Victoria Kord played by Susan Sarandon

Eagle eyed viewers though will not only spy Ted Kord’s iconic Bug ship but also his original costume as well as the one by Dan Garret, the Golden Age Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle trailer

Blue Beetle arrives in theaters on Friday August 18, 2023