First 'Blue Beetle' Trailer Unleashes Xolo Maridueña's Superhero Into the DCEU (2024)

DC Studios is spending 2023 rolling out the last of its pre-JamesGunn and Peter Safran era content as the new co-CEOs plan to revamp the DCU with their own vision, and an absolutely massive 10-year plan. While this summer’s The Flash movie is set to serve as a reboot point for the universe, DC still has a few other formerly DCEU titles set to hit the big screen before the end of the year including Blue Beetle, which just received its first trailer today.

Blue Beetle is set to follow teenager Jamie Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) who becomes a superhero when an alien scarab beetle attaches itself to him giving him armor and super abilities including enhanced strength and speed. The new trailer released today offers fans our first on-screen glimpse of the character and his first encounter with the alien scarab beetle. While the trailer doesn't reveal a ton about the plot, we do get our first look at Susan Sarandon's villainous Victoria Kord and the new footage makes it clear that this movie is going to be very funny—it's capped off with George Lopez calling Batman a fascist.

Blue Beetle was originally destined for an HBO Max debut alongside the controversially cancelled Batgirl. However, a few months prior to Batgirl’s cancellation, in an attempt to create a more cohesive DCU going forward Warner Brothers decided to give the film a theatrical release. Bumping the film up to a theatrical release is likely a wise move given that Blue Beetle will be the first Latinx-led superhero film from a major studio. Recently, Sarandon indicated that the movie was filmed mostly in Spanish and also teased about her experience as a villain. From the trailer however it's clear that the movie was filmed in English, though it's possible that they filmed two versions in the vein of Prey.

RELATED: Susan Sarandon Says ‘Blue Beetle’ Will Be in Spanish With Subtitles

Production Details for Blue Beetle

In addition to Maridueña and Sarandon playing the hero and the villain, the cast of Blue Beetle is also set to feature Lopez and What We Do in the Shadows star Harvey Guillén. Further rounding out the case is Belissa Escobedo, who recently held a lead role in Disney’s Hocus Pocus sequel, is set to play Jamie’s sister Milagros Reyes while Brazilian actress Bruna Marquezine is expected to play his love interest. Raoul Max Trujillo (Mayans M.C.) is also set to play a secondary villain—Carapax the Indestructible Man.

Having wrapped filming last summer, about a year ahead of its release date, Blue Beetle so far appears to be creating a new origin story for the comic book hero. While some of these characters have comic book counterparts, the production is shaking things up with others. Marquezine’s character has not appeared in the comics that we know of; and Sarandon’s Victoria Kord is also a character created for the film, though her name indicates she has ties to the comic book character Ted Kord, who is a brilliant scientist and sometimes-member of the Justice League. We don’t yet know if Sarandon’s Victoria is a gender-swapped version of the character or if she’s connected to the Kord legacy in some other way—though the trailer may just tease the answer to that question.

Blue Beetle is set to hit theaters on August 18, 2023. Check out the new trailer down below and stay tuned at Collider for further updates.