Warner Bros.is moving forward with aBlue Beetlefilm based on the DC superhero of the same name.Charm City Kingsdirector Angel Manuel Soto is officially set to direct theBlue Beetlemovie for the studio and DC films.
Speaking toThe Wrap,Soto was quoted as saying, “It is an honor to direct Blue Beetle, the first Latino superhero film for DC, I want to sincerely thank everyone at Warner Bros. and DC for trusting me to bring Jaime Reyes to life. I can’t wait to make history together.” The film will be written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, a Mexican-born screenwriter whose other credits includeUniversal’s upcomingScarfaceremakeand Sony Pictures' action-thriller,Miss Bala.
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While other Latinx characters have appeared inthe DC Extended Universe, such as El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) inSuicide Squadand Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) inBirds of Prey, Soto’s Blue Beetle will be the first standalone DC film to feature a Latino lead. In the comics,Blue Beetleis the superhero alter ego used by several different characters throughout comic book history. The character has moved around to several different comic book publishers over the years and was also the inspiration for the character ‘Nite Owl’ inAlan Moore’s acclaimed graphic novelWatchmen.
The original Blue Beetle was created forFox Comicsby either Charles Wojtkowski or Charles Cuidera under the pseudonym Charles Nicholas. In his later years, Cuidera claimed to be the creator, even though historians usually credit Wojtkowski. Fox Comics eventually went under and was bought by Charlton Comics. The first Blue Beetle was named Dan Garrett, a police officer who initially gained superpowers from a special vitamin. He was later reimagined as an archeologist who gained his abilities from a mystical Egyptian scarab. The second character to take upthe Blue Beetle mantlewas Ted Kord, a genius athlete and former student of Garret with no superpowers who was created by comics legend Steve Ditko. Charlton Comics went out of business in the 1980s, which was when the character was moved over to DC comics.
The third and current Blue Beetle is Jaime Reyes, a regular teenager from El Paso, Texas who took on the name when he discovered the mystical scarab on his way home from school. After the scarab came alive, it grafted itself to Reyes' spine, providing him with a super-poweredextraterrestrial suit of armor. Created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner, the character made his first appearance inInfinite Crisis#3 in 2006. This version of the character will serve as the inspiration for the film.
Born in Puerto Rico, Angel Manuel Soto directed his first feature in 2015 withLa Granja (The Farm),which follows the lives of several Puerto Rican characters as they struggle in the pursuit of happiness. Soto has worked on several virtual reality projects over the years and more recently he directed the award-winning filmCharm City Kings,which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and tells the story of a 13-year-old boy who desperately wants to join a group of infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders.
TheBlue Beetlemovie is currently set to start production in the fall of 2021.
