Blue Beetle star Harvey Guillén praises the DC Universe movie's commitment to Latino representation. Best known for his role as the human familiar Guillermo de la Cruz in FX's What We Do in the Shadows series, the Mexican-actor stars in the Blue Beetle movie in an undisclosed role. Guillén stars alongside an all-Latino cast that also includes Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Elpidia Carrillo, Damián Alcázar, and Raoul Trujillo.
During a recent interview with Screen Rant, Guillén expressed his excitement for Blue Beetle and praised the DCU movie's commitment to Latino representation. The actor also explained why Blue Beetle is a historic film, considering it's the first DC movie to focus on a Mexican superhero. Read what Guillén said below:
Well, I'm super excited about this film. The cast was all Latinos, and it's about a family. Xolo, who plays Blue Beetle, does a phenomenal job. He totally dove into this character. We have George Lopez, we have Susan Sarandon, who plays Victoria Kord, and working with this cast was just phenomenal. The director, Angel, was amazing to work with. And his vision? I'm really excited to be part of something that's literally going to be history. It's the first DC character [who's a] Mexican superhero. It was so great to be on set, and people are all speaking Spanish, doing scenes, and improvising a little bit. And to feel that, even if you aren't a Latino yourself? To be welcomed into that world is going to be so amazing. When I read the script, I couldn't believe the words. I was like, "This is insane. I never would have thought in my lifetime I would see this on paper," because it's so nostalgic to me [of] growing up. Even the TV in the background, and what it's playing, the shows that might have been on, the language, and the verbiage in the household was on ink. It was on paper, and I was just like, "Wow, I'm so excited to see what the world's gonna see. I'm excited to welcome everyone into this world." It's going to be great.
Everything We Know About DC's Blue Beetle Movie
Directed by Angel Manuel Soto with a script from Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, the Blue Beetle movie is set to introduce Jamie Reyes to the DCU, an El Paso teenager who, after grafting to an alien scarab that gives him a superpowered exosuit, becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle. Cobra Kai's Xolo Maridueña stars in the lead role alongside an all-Latino cast who portrays Jamie's multigenerational family. Susan Sarandon stars as the villain, Victoria Kord, who has never appeared in DC Comics, though the Oscar-winning actress has described her as "the white military-industrial complex [character]."
Guillén's comments point out some of the most notable aspects of Blue Beetle – Jamie Reyes is the first Latino superhero to have his own film, the ing cast is made up of all Latino actors, and the movie heavily revolves around a family dynamic with Jamie's sister, uncle, grandmother, and father all playing prominent roles in the film. For many of the scenes featuring the Reyes family, the characters speak Spanish with English subtitles, as previously revealed by Sarandon. As evidenced by the cast's comments, especially Guillén's, the Blue Beetle movie is clearly committed to Latino representation and portraying the community with authenticity.
The Batgirl movie cancelation sparked some concern about Blue Beetle, which was also originally intended for HBO Max, but has since been changed to a theatrical release. Since then, numerous reports have indicated that Blue Beetle is safe following the Batgirl cancelation and director Angel Manuel Soto has said the film has Warner Bros. Discovery's "full ." Despite some fears of cancelation, Blue Beetle appears to be safe for its scheduled release date in 2023, which will be a milestone moment for Latino representation in superhero cinema.
