El Escarabajo Azul!!

April 3, 2023 11:45 AM

The first trailer for Blue Beetle just dropped.

Starring Xolo Mariduena as Jaime Reyes, aka Blue Beetle, directed by Angel Manuel Soto, and apparently Susan Sarandon is the baddie?

As a biracial kid with a Mexican mom, this has my heart all happy.

posted by Kitteh (55 comments total)

DCEU's been really hit-or-miss for me, but I'm still hopeful and enthusiastic about this one.

Is that Ted Kord's Bug ship at the 2:05-ish mark?
posted by hanov3r at 11:56 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

I think I'm hopeful about this because it doesn't involve Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman etc.
posted by Kitteh at 11:57 AM on April 3, 2023 [5 favorites]

I'm pretty sure that is the Bug. I also saw a still with Kord's costume in the background. My guess is that he's the one who called Batman a fascist.
posted by Spike Glee at 12:00 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Somehow they combined Iron Man with Tetsuo the Iron Man (with a dash of Spider-Man and Venom) for the same superhero movie and it looks like it works? I'll probably check it out!
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:27 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Looks awful. Breaks my deal breaker golden rule of trailers, if the trailer has close ups of people screaming for comedic effect the film will suck and should obviously be avoided.
posted by biffa at 12:34 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

My guess is that he's the one who called Batman a fascist

No, that looks to be George Lopez's character, Uncle Rudy.
posted by hanov3r at 12:44 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

As I said to a friend, I'll watch any movie where superheroes fall down in amusing ways. Yes, my standards are low, but I sure have lots to choose from! :)
posted by The otter lady at 12:48 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Enh, trailers have gotten pretty generic and have been for a long time. I'm willing to give a superhero movie a second shot as long as the villain's got a plausible motive and the main character's origin story looks better than "I was born rich but had a tough day that one time".

I really wish people would stop recycling their motion models, though. Seriously, if you're reading this: please, please stop doing that, it was bad that time you used the Jurassic Park raptor models for Godzilla, it was worse when you used Woody's Toy Story motion model for Spider Man, and it's gotten worse since. We can all see it, please stop.
posted by mhoye at 12:51 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

There have been persistent rumors over the years that the Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle can't be portrayed on screen because of movie rights that were signed away by Charlton Comics decades ago. (Although he has appeared in the Batman: Brave and the Bold cartoon, and static—but not animated—renderings of him have appeared in Young Justice.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:54 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

I don't know from Blue Beetle, and this movie doesn't appeal to me - but Xolo Mariduena was GREAT in "Cobra Kai." Glad that good things are happening for him!
posted by davidmsc at 1:05 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Hoping for Traci Thirteen.
posted by delfin at 1:13 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

We can all see it, please stop.

We really cannot all see it.
posted by one for the books at 1:25 PM on April 3, 2023 [40 favorites]

“He’s gonna make you be the content.”
posted by Going To Maine at 1:40 PM on April 3, 2023

We can all see it, please stop.

We really cannot all see it.

I wish I could see it, tho
posted by Going To Maine at 1:41 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Eh, the haters can suck it because all that matters to me is that Latino kids are going to see themselves repped on the big screen as a superhero. We have Miles Morales AND Jaime Reyes.
posted by Kitteh at 1:41 PM on April 3, 2023 [26 favorites]

It is absolutely Ted's Bug. It's as obvious as the Arrowverse nod (in the form of hamburger chains). I kind of don't want Ted to make an appearance, as I don't think he needs to deal with an evil mother, but I know he has a relationship with Jaime, so him showing up wouldn't be a total swerve.
posted by sardonyx at 1:53 PM on April 3, 2023

Big Belly Burger existed in the comics way before the Arrowverse.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 1:58 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Well, you learn something new everyday. Somehow in all my years of being a DC reader, I either never came across it or it never registered as a "thing" in my mind.
posted by sardonyx at 2:13 PM on April 3, 2023

We have Miles Morales AND Jaime Reyes.

And America Chavez, who was OUTSTANDING in Doc Strange 2.
posted by hanov3r at 2:21 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

liquidwolf, Está bien que no te gusten las cosas, pero no seas un imbécil al respecto.
posted by FritoKAL at 2:37 PM on April 3, 2023 [6 favorites]

Oh shit, sorry I forgot about America! She is a badass. I would love to see Gillen/McKelvie Young Avengers series come to life now that I think about it.
posted by Kitteh at 2:45 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

We have Miles Morales AND Jaime Reyes.

And America Chavez,

Not quite the same thing, but Namor is descended from Mayans and Aztecs in the MCU.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:47 PM on April 3, 2023

liquidwolf, Está bien que no te gusten las cosas, pero no seas un imbécil al respecto.

I didn't think I was that harsh about it, didn't mean any offense. I just think it looks the same as every other standard superhero movie today.
posted by Liquidwolf at 2:48 PM on April 3, 2023

Also, for those unfamiliar with Jaime Reyes, I strongly recommend Keith Giffen and John Rogers' original run on the character. (I know that there was a later version of the character in the New 52, but I basically noped out of DC at that point.) Some of those stories have a version of Peacemaker that's very different from the James Gunn/John Cena version.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:51 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

This doesn't grab my attention. I'm familiar with the Ted Korn Blue Beetle from back in the day, so this takes seems completely unnecessary and uninteresting to me, based solely off of this trailer.

None of that criticism is to downplay the inclusive bits, which are great, just not seeing an interesting character or story. But this is the first trailer and thus an introduction, so perhaps later trailers will entice me.

No shade to those who are thrilled or interested by the trailer, I hope the movie is everything you like!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:13 PM on April 3, 2023

"I just think it looks the same as every other standard superhero movie today."

What makes you think little brown kids don't deserve a standard superhero movie? HE'S LATINO. THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE. Let my latino neighbors have a damn hero without your 'oh it's the saaaaaaame' judgement. God, you'd think people would stop and think first.
posted by FritoKAL at 3:14 PM on April 3, 2023 [13 favorites]

I have excitedly sent the trailer to my mom (whose last name is Reyes, natch) going, "Mommy! Mirar! It's a Latino superhero!"
posted by Kitteh at 3:21 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

First Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All at Once, and now Susan Sarandon. Who else from that era with acting chops can we cast at the baddie?
posted by Quasirandom at 3:26 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Jodie Foster
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:11 PM on April 3, 2023 [5 favorites]

Who else from that era with acting chops can we cast at the baddie?

Ellen Barkin
Kelly McGillis
Mimi Rogers
Rene Russo
posted by hanov3r at 4:29 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Meryl Streep
Glenn Close
posted by Sphinx at 4:30 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Ellen Barkin had her baddie turn in one of the episodes of Poker Face.

Anyway, Jamie Reyes took up the mantle of Blue Beetle in the comics when Ted was temporarily dead (he got better). And there were fans that were mad mad mad mad mad. Some were mad because Ted was dead (temporarily). But some were definitely mad that it was not yet another white guy taking over.

The only version of Ted that really makes him stick out of the pack is the when he is in "bwa-ha-ha" Justice League mode, particularly with Booster Gold and no one in their right mind is going to make a movie of that version (TV show, maybe).
posted by LostInUbe at 4:46 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Looks awful. Breaks my deal breaker golden rule of trailers, if the trailer

... indicates that the movie in question focuses on somebody getting superpowers, ending up in some kind of cool getup and fighting evil, I'm clearly not the target market as I never needed anything more in that regard than Adam West's Batman.

None of that criticism is to downplay the inclusive bits, which are great, just not seeing an interesting character or story.

fully agree.
posted by philip-random at 4:53 PM on April 3, 2023

What makes you think little brown kids don't deserve a standard superhero movie?

See also: Is this what white people get to feel like all the time?!
posted by Superilla at 4:55 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

The original John (the guy who did Leverage) Rogers run had that book doing some astonishing things and not getting all the appreciation it should have:

• An issue that ended with me liking Guy Gardner
• Jaime defeating the Spectre, the embodiment of God’s Vengeance, by simply saying “I forgive you” to the man who nearly crippled his father
• when an evil wizard uses their power to transform him into his darkest desire, he becomes…. a dentist! (hey, they make bank so he can help his family with the money he brings in… and that is the explanation he gives.)
• Trying to save an alien who, as far as Jaime knew had just killed his parents and sister.

That last one might need some reiteration. The alien leader, whose forces he had been fighting for most of the series. had his minions bomb out his house, and he believed his parents and little sister were in there. And at the last moment, because he’s that good a person (see the dentist thing) he tries to save the alien leader, begging that the alien grab his hand, and as the ship explodes, the alien goes, “we never had a chance…”

If they get it one tenth as right, I’m going to be there for it.
posted by mephron at 4:58 PM on April 3, 2023 [10 favorites]

Young Justice (hbomax) is really, really good if you liked the DCAU, Brave and The Bold, etc. Jaime Blue Beetle is a big part if it, like main character, explanation of the armor's alien culture is part of it. Its also funny and well animated. Strong recommend.

This trailer is a trailer, but the important part is that he can travel in space and they nail that. More Green Lantern than Iron Man.

Feels like a Shazam 1 situation to me. What do you guys want fucking Snyder Owlman?
posted by kittensofthenight at 6:13 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Liquidwolf, stop yucking other people's yum, please.

There are a lot of "another superhero movie"s out there. This one has a Latino lead, which is a tiny, but meaningful, step forward in the people making them showing that you can get more than white people (sometimes with one black person, maybe two, but also often not) as the saviors of the world. The only major Latino hero in a movie is Miles "Spider-Man" Morales, and I heard some people actually say he didn't count because he was of mixed parentage (which is just ridiculous).

I'm white, but also trans, and the comic movies haven't had a trans hero yet (that they've said is trans), much less one that's out as gay. I'd love to see one and hope someone at the Big Two is willing to do it sometime, because then a lot of people in the closet would see someone like them can also be a hero.

Let someone be happy to get representation.
posted by mephron at 6:19 PM on April 3, 2023 [9 favorites]

Nth-ing the love for John Rogers' Blue Beetle, where we first met Jaime. If you only get one collection, make it Book 3, Reach For The Stars. The first two books are good too; the fourth (Endgame) falls off a bit.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:21 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

I just wish movie makers would choose another plot than kid gets powers, struggles with powers as metaphor for growing up, then defeats villain. I mean Spider-man has done that like four times now in the last twenty years, as well as countless others. This even looks like a beat-for-beat match to a couple of the Spider-mans. There has to be something new that could be said.
posted by bonehead at 9:31 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Several deleted. 1. Don't crap up discussions with your terse expression of disinterest; just go participate in conversation about something that does interest you. 2. Realize that not every piece of media is specifically for and about you. 3. Don't use sexist terms. 4. Don't derail an entire thread and take up space to lash out and defend all the previous items while continuing to make it all about you. Guidelines.
posted by taz (staff) at 10:40 PM on April 3, 2023 [15 favorites]

I found out about this from Adam and Jay's delighted reaction to it and I am stoked :). I loved John Rodgers' original run of the comics and they look like they've got it spot on.

As for what new things Blue Beetle brings to the table, one of them is the fact his extended family know and are involved in the super heroics from the start. That bit of the trailer with all of them in Ted Kord's Blue Beetle Bug and checking out the Beetle Cave while Uncle Rudy says "Batman's a Facist" is *chefs kiss*.

Oh yeah and he's a Latino super hero and in the comic did his stuff in El Paso, where "we never see super heroes". I hope folks get the same kind of joy that Layla becoming the first on screen Egyptian super hero in Moon Knight brought people.

It looks FUN.
posted by invisible_al at 12:27 AM on April 4, 2023 [3 favorites]

I was enough of a fan of the Rogers and Giffen series to note that:
* I could decode the alien language; it's a substitution cipher, with a funky font
* oh hey, I could recreate that font
* yes, this is something I've found myself doing repeatedly
So, here's the decoder ring, and font. I think it's out of continuity now? (shrug)

Oh: I squinted at the Scarab's heads up display, and I'm not recognizing the characters. There might be enough text to decode, or recognize the new font.

I'm glad his parents know what's up; I think that wasn't true of the rebooted series and it was much less interesting than the "supportive parents" roles.
posted by Pronoiac at 3:20 AM on April 4, 2023 [5 favorites]

This looks like a lot of fun to me. I only know Blue Beetle from Brave and the Bold, but I'm down for this. Batman is a fascist, lol.
posted by ceejaytee at 4:04 AM on April 4, 2023

This looks like a fun super-hero film. I hope it does well.
posted by Fizz at 4:56 AM on April 4, 2023

Forty-three comments and not a single Gregor Samsa joke?

Y'all are slipping.
posted by BWA at 5:09 AM on April 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

We can all see it, please stop.

We really cannot all see it.

I been seeing it, didn't know what it was, thanks! It's like uncanny valley for movement.
Can't wait to see this. I liked the bit where he called Batman a facist.
posted by Iteki at 5:36 AM on April 4, 2023

The only major Latino hero in a movie is Miles "Spider-Man" Morales, and I heard some people actually say he didn't count because he was of mixed parentage (which is just ridiculous).

Brief derail: Because my dad is white, I get dismissed a lot by Latino communities. It sucks but it doesn't make me any less proud of my mom's heritage. She grew up in 1950s rural Texas and had to learn English in school. My maternal grandmother never learned English; she knows a few English phrases and that's about it. My mom's biggest regret is that my late maternal grandmother actively discouraged her from teaching me and my sister her native tongue. "They will never need that," she said (OMG was she ever wrong). So any Spanish I know has been learned in my adulthood. My mom is very proud of her identity.

So: you're right, Miles Morales totally counts!
posted by Kitteh at 5:55 AM on April 4, 2023 [7 favorites]

I know nothing about Blue Beetle and it never astonishes me that this happened based on the amount of fandom that very clearly love Blue Beetle. I read some DC comics here and there, watched some of the animated shows, but somehow, this character completely bypassed me. As a result, I'm far more interested in the movie because Xolo is the Blue Beetle. He's fantastic in Cobra Kai and I love that it's hopefully continuing to be a springboard for success.

I found the trailer pretty fun to watch. I enjoy my superhero films more on the lighter side, which is one reason why most of the Snyderverse really grew on me.
posted by Atreides at 6:36 AM on April 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

Y'all are slipping.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a lazy cultural reference.
posted by zamboni at 7:09 AM on April 4, 2023 [4 favorites]

I just wish movie makers would choose another plot

with all respect: ain't enough genies in bottles to grant this wish

"tale old as time" applies to pretty much everything that makes it to the cineplex. it's okay though, we don't have much time so it's probably best if you just enjoy what you can, while you can
posted by elkevelvet at 7:46 AM on April 4, 2023

I know nothing about Blue Beetle and it never astonishes me that this happened based on the amount of fandom that very clearly love Blue Beetle.

The character has had an interesting history. There was a Golden Age version who got powers from the Golden Age's favorite source, drugs (excuse me, "Vitamin 2X") which later got retconned to the GA's second favorite source, random ancient mystical artifact (scarab). The name, but little else, was revived at the short-lived Charlton Comics by Spider-Man and Doctor Strange co-creator Steve Ditko, who turned the character into an inventor named Ted Kord who had a cool vehicle and gadgets, like Batman. DC Comics bought the Charlton characters, and Alan Moore had some interesting ideas about what to do with the characters, although, being Alan Moore, "interesting ideas" meant "majorly fucking up their shit." Then-DC editor Dick Giordano, who had formerly worked at Charlton, wasn't too into that, so Moore barely filed off the serial numbers and used thinly-veiled versions of the characters for Watchmen, with Blue Beetle becoming Nite Owl (complete with his own Golden Age predecessor).

So, with the success of Watchmen, DC got interested in actually using the former Charlton characters for something more than grist for postmodern superhero deconstruction, so they revived three of them in their own titles: Captain Atom (think Doctor Manhattan), The Question (think Rorschach), and Blue Beetle. BB didn't last long, but he did end up in the revamped Justice League, which I'm guessing is where most people remember him from.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:16 AM on April 4, 2023 [5 favorites]

BB didn't last long, but he did end up in the revamped Justice League, which I'm guessing is where most people remember him from

Dan's presence in JLI and his friendship with Booster Gold is iconic, and has led to what I think is one of the funniest lines in webcomic history, courtesy of Yale Stewart's "JL8".

Yes, I do kinda randomly say "CHEESE IT, TED!" and it consistently makes my girlfriend laugh, so I have no plans to stop
posted by hanov3r at 9:37 AM on April 4, 2023 [4 favorites]

This looks fun, which is not a word I use for a lot of the DCverse. The grimdark runs long and strong there, with only occasional bursts of light, color, life and humor like the first WW and Shazam!. And, yes, representation matters. Latinx superbeings have not made much of a dent in the DC/Marvel cape movies. I don't think this'll be the Latin community's Black Panther, but it's a big first step.
posted by the sobsister at 10:13 AM on April 4, 2023 [3 favorites]

Surprising amount of dumping on Blue Beetle earlier in the thread - glad the moderators stepped in. One of the most empowering things as a consumer of media you can do is to recognise when something isn't made for you and to move along. It is ok to not watch something or to take part in the culture.

I think Xolo Maridueña is an inspired choice and they even got an up and coming Puerto Rican director - seems like wins to me. That aside, the movie might end up generic - it is true, but my son was a big fan of the Jamie Reyes Blue Beetle (via the excellent Batman Brave & the Bold cartoon) when he was small so is rightly pumped.

And yeah Batman is totally a fascist.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:02 PM on April 4, 2023 [3 favorites]

Honestly would love to see Forager pop up in this; their buddy dynamic in Young Justice is everything.

I know I'm cursing myself for wishing this, but dang if the Young Justice and Teen Titans animated series aren't the absolute best things to come out of the DC universe in my adulthood.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:12 AM on April 5, 2023