From director Angel Manuel Soto, the DC Comics action adventure flick Blue Beetle (out in theaters on August 18, 2023) follows Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) as he returns home after college graduation, only to find himself in the unexpected possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology known as the Scarab. Before he can stop it, the Scarab intertwines itself with Jaime, giving him a suit of armor and superhero powers that his family has no shortage of opinions about.

Warner Bros. recently invited some media outlets (including Collider) to a screening room at the studio to check out the trailer on a big screen. Following that, Soto and Maridueña participated in a Q&A where they talked about why Blue Beetle is a movie for everybody, the journey the film took from an HBO Max streaming release to movie theaters, the decision to shoot it for IMAX, what makes this cast so special, the fun of getting to be a superhero, how spotlighting cultural and community representation inspires more representation, where they pulled from to tell this story, the use of Spanish in the film, and whether audiences might see more Latino superheroes enter this world in the future.

Question: Angel, what makes Blue Beetle a movie for everybody?

ANGEL MANUEL SOTO: Because I am like everybody. Xolo is like everybody. I’m as special as all of you. I’m no less than everybody. My culture is not a buzzword. We exist and we co-exist. Being able to integrate those things that makes us special adds flavor. It’s like laughter. People laugh differently, yet it’s still laughter. We grieve differently, we cry and we deal with loss differently, but it’s still loss. It’s always nice to see something that we’re used to seeing with other superheroes that we love and we cherish, but we see it our way and we invite the audience to not feel repelled by it. Come to our party. Latino is not a genre, and we’re not a buzzword either. It’s a superhero movie that happens to have a Latino at the forefront. That’s it.

Xolo, this character, Jaime Reyes, is very new to being a superhero. He doesn’t know anything about it. What was it like for you to be a new superhero and get to know this character through this story?

XOLO MARIDUEÑA: We see some of these other superheroes, who are able to hide from their family the fact that they’re a superhero, but his family is right there, on that first transformation. To come through this journey together is something that we haven’t seen before in superhero movies, and that really is the beating heart of this movie. Although this was my first time being a superhero and coming into a character like this, it can’t happen without the family. That theme, whether or not you’re Latino, transcends ethnicity and color of skin because that’s something that we can all relate to. That’s been the most exciting part. Although it is undeniably and unapologetically Latino, everyone will understand. Everyone understands Jaime. These are people who we’ve interacted with in our daily life, and the problems that they’re facing are problems that we know. Maybe there will be room for the second or third one to do the crazy alien stuff, but the stuff that you see in this movie is all very tangible and it feels rooted in today’s world. It’s the world that we know, plus a little bit extra magic. Also, to bring Palmera City to the screen is fantastic in its own regard. The vision was to have Blue Beetle be on the same level as someone like Superman or Batman, who have Metropolis or Gotham, which are cities that are the beating hearts of the themes of the comics. To create a world for Jaime where he feels like he fits was really such a humbling and honoring experience, as well.

Image via WB

What makes this cast so special, on screen and off?

SOTO: One of the things that we really wanted to do with the cast was to be able to be as authentic as we could. We wanted to tap into three generations, to show the first immigrant family, and then when they bring their sons, and then when the sons are born here. We wanted to be able to tap into three generations authentically, like with Xolo [Maridueña], who was born here and is Mexican American, as is Belissa [Escobedo], who plays Milagro, his sister. And then, you have characters like George Lopez, who plays the uncle and who’s been here for a minute and he’s a national treasure, and Elpidia [Carrillo], who plays the mom. And then, I really wanted to tap into what I consider the best actors from Mexico City, which is Adriana [Barraza] and Damián Alcázar. We also have Harvey Guillén, who’s of Mexican descent, and Raoul Max Trujillo. So, I really wanted to bring all the people that I really respect from the movies that I saw growing up in Mexico, from Mexico. They really inspired me to become a filmmaker. I wanted to be able to keep it as authentic as possible, and not the Hallmark cookie cutter Latinos. They brought everything. They really took the film and they made it theirs. They took their fun very seriously. That’s one of the things that I really loved about working together, and with Xolo. As a director, probably the most satisfying thing is being able to get an authentic chemistry from a collective that feels like something I grew up with.

What made you most nervous about the representation of the community that you wanted to bring to this? How did you approach that responsibility?

SOTO: We’re not a monolith. We’re never gonna be able to tell everything. Luckily for me, the way I see it, the job was already done. This is a Mexican family, so it’s a Mexican family. It’s nothing but that. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t collective features between the collective memory and our blood history, and at the same time, it’s not that different from the rest of the world. A lot of this stuff can be taken and shared, and can be a communal experience, even if you’re not from the Latino community. That being said, with me and the writer, Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, who’s Mexican from Queretaro, you cannot get more authentic than that. The cast is Mexican, too. Of course, we wanna do more. Some people might feel like they don’t see themselves, and some might feel like they do. Overall, if anything, this is just the first of many. Yes, the first of many Blue Beetle movies, but also the first of many other communities also being able to tell their authentic stories, with the voices that should tell those stories, as well as with the respect and the honor that those communities deserve. Ultimately, my goal is that everybody makes a fucking movie. Why not? Hopefully, this opens the door to tell stories from Nicaragua, from Venezuela, from Argentina, and from places that we don’t know about, that can reach us, and that can make us better humans who understand each other better and just have other conversations. It starts a conversation that allows us to be part of a global community and embrace each other’s differences in a way that’s exciting. Ultimately, that’s what I’m all about, and that’s what I hope happens.

You chose to do this in IMAX expanded aspect ratio when you were filming it. What led to that decision? Why do you think that people should really see it in IMAX?

SOTO: Because IMAX is the shit. It’s the immersive aspect of it. I try to be as immersive as I can, with the projects that I do. The scope of IMAX allowed you to be swallowed whole into the frame. My relationship with cinema is very spiritual, and it almost feels like you can have a physical connection to it. In the same way that we try our best to bring the audience in and come into this dance, with the story and with the characters, IMAX just advances it a little further. It feels like you’re dancing with your partner, instead of just being alone in a room with it.

Image via WB

This film was originally going to be made for HBO Max and not the big screen experience. How did the movie end up going the theatrical route and what were the changes that went with that?

SOTO: That is true, at the beginning of it. Once we started writing the script and I started to create concept art, the studio allowed me to run free in my creativity. Unbeknownst to them and to me, at the time, they were able to see the promise of how we pictured a city, and how we really wanted the city to be, and the bigger realm of this cultural zeitgeist and the impact that this can have culturally, but also in the superhero genre, to try something different. We hoped that people will see it for what it is, which is that it has a lot of love and a lot of heart, and the studio felt like it had the potential to be theatrical. The stories that we’re telling and the topics that we’re touching upon, even though it’s very grounded, we’re picturing this as the first act of a big saga. We really wanted to make the things that sometimes appear to be small, due to clouding of privilege, actually be worse than an alien invasion to some people. It was about translating that into a movie where a superhero can actually be a superhero, and it doesn’t really have to be about saving the planet from this alien invasion, but it can actually be something that we can relate to, which for some of us is bigger than life. The studio saw the potential in that.

Xolo, what was it like to find out about the change to the big screen?

MARIDUEÑA: I wasn’t a part of that conversation. I got on FaceTime with Angel and was [very excited]. Being serious about it, Warner Bros. and the DC family really understood and were just as excited as we are about the reality that this is a world movie. It’s a story that we want to tell to everyone. It’s a blessing, and I’m so grateful for that. The movie deserves it.

What was it like for you to get cast in this? How did that feel, especially when you learned that what you were doing would also make its way back into the comics?

MARIDUEÑA: That part of things, making everything canon, is a very exciting part of the process. I got to come in during pre-production and help carve out who Jaime is, as a character. I was really grateful that Angel gave me a lot of liberties, in terms of trusting me, as a performer. Jaime feels so honest. Although we’re telling this larger than life story, it felt really easy, especially with the help of the family, to get those moments. Our rehearsal days weren’t getting the lines right. It was talking as a family. Once that part locked into place, the rest of the dominoes went perfectly. That really is due in part to wanting the foundation of this movie and the soil to be really pure, and wanting the hearts and souls of these characters to be three-dimensional. Once that was in place, everything else melted away. At the same time, we wanted to do something that’s different. We’ve seen a lot of these superhero movies, over the course of the past couple of decades, and seeing where we could fit in that feels different, was one of the most magical parts. It’s not about competition to us. We’re not looking to be called the next blah, blah, blah. We just want to enter this space and have it feel new, and I think we completed that. I think we did it.

Are you ready for everything this will bring to your life? What are you doing to prepare for what’s coming?

MARIDUEÑA: A lot of it, honestly, is just spending time with my family. I’ve been blessed that my friends and family are the friends and family that I’ve had most of my life. I feel fairly well-adjusted. I understand the social media part of it and the effect that being part of the worldwide DC has on an individual. But at the end of the day, there’s nothing that brings me more joy than getting to sit and watch a movie with my family. To be quite frank, there were a lot of nerves before I went into the project. I’d never been number one on the call sheet before. I’d never done a movie before. But I had a really great conversation with someone who said, “The movie isn’t about you. It’s not about making Xolo the biggest thing yet. It’s not about what people are gonna think of Xolo, as an actor. It’s about opening the door, and it’s about showing a group of people that you deserve to have your story being told too, and that you are just as important as the stories that we’ve been seeing for years.” Once that clicked in my head and I realized that it’s not about me, and who cares about what people think of me, it became more about getting the door open, not only for Blue Beetle, but for all the other superheroes that deserve to have their stories told too. That was the key for me. All the nervousness, all the social media stuff, and what people think whisks away, once you realize it’s not about any of that. That was the biggest beacon for me, guiding me through the process.

Angel, how much of the lore in this film is from Jaime’s run, and will there be stuff from earlier versions that you’ve given Jaime’s spin on?

SOTO: New 52 was a big inspiration, as far as like the suit goes and other aspects of the story, but we took a lot from bits and pieces. There’s a lot of great stuff in all the different runs. We were like, “Man, how do we choose one? Do we choose one?” So, it was like, “No, let’s do whatever the fuck we want. Let’s have fun and create something awesome. Let’s create something really interesting that takes the greatest hits, even from the Injustice 2 game.” We really dove into that because it’s fucking dope. There are so many great things that go back to Infinite Crisis, and then even to the new one, Graduation Day, which actually took a lot from what we did in the movie.

How do you approach Spanish in this film?

SOTO: There’s definitely Spanglish. There is definitely Spanish. Just like what happens, the first generations that are born here, English is their first language. I was born and raised on the island, but I have Puerto Rican cousins and with them, their parents would tell them to speak English only, just to protect them right from racism and from being bullied, as if speaking English was gonna change their skin color. Some people don’t know Spanish, and other people mix it in. The older generation has Spanish conversations. Nana only speaks Spanish. When they wanna speak from the heart, they communicate the best way they can. So, there’s Spanish [in the movie]. It’s just not in the trailer because we don’t wanna scare people.

Going forward, which Latino superheroes do you want to see brought to the screen? Will we see Green Lantern? Are you going to bring Jessica Cruz in? Are there any Latino superheroes or supervillains that you’d want to see?

SOTO: My answer to that is yes, and that’s all I can say. I don’t wanna get in trouble. Actually, if you all help us and this movie becomes a massive fucking hit, you’ll see a lot of those characters. That’s what makes it happen. If you wanna see more variety and really celebrate differences, cultures and other worlds, the only way is to support a movie like this. This is not about me. This is not about Xolo. I don’t really care about me. What I care about is opening doors. In a world where people really crave taking people down, supporting each other is the only way we can tell different stories. Not all of them are gonna be perfect, but they’re gonna exist. Being able to see other kids watch this movie, or watch other movies, and see themselves at the center, they’ll say, “Man, I wanna tell a story about my community.” And then, that kid becomes an amazing writer and we’ll get to see all those characters. If you wanna support that vision, the only way is by showing them that people wanna see it.

Blue Beetle is in theaters on August 18th.