Blue Beetle trailer: Meet DC's first live-action Latino superhero 

Warner Bros. released the first trailer for a new Latino live-action DC superhero film “Blue Beetle” set to premiere this summer. 

The trailer for the highly anticipated film “Blue Beetle” features Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes, a college grad student who becomes a superhero after he comes into contact with an ancient alien artifact. 

The beetle-shaped artifact, known as the Scarab, chooses Reyes by attaching itself to his spine and giving him a bio-mechanical suit with superpowers, including flying, agility, and enhanced sight. 

The “Blue Beetle” comic series was first introduced in 2006 as part of DC’s “Teen Titans” comics. Reyes, who comes from a Mexican-American family that lives in El Paso, Texas, is the third iteration of the comic. This version of the “Blue Beetle” is considered to be one of the most prominent Latin superheroes in the history of comics. 

The film is directed by a Latino, Angel Manuel Soto, known for the 2020 drama “Charm City Kings.” The director has explained that he wanted the film to be “unapologetically Latino.”

The movie’s cast is also predominantly Hispanic, including George Lopez, Ariana Barraza, Elpidia Carrillo, Damian Alcazar, and Belissa Escobedo portraying Reyes’ family members. 

The film’s love interest, Penny, will be played by Bruna Marquezine, while the Villain, Caparax the Indestructible Man, is played by Raoul Trujillo. The main villain is portrayed by Susan Sarandon.

“Whether or not you’re Latino, it transcends ethnicity, it transcends color or skin because that’s something that we can all relate [to],” Soto said. “We are not a genre and we’re not a buzzword either. It is a superhero movie that happens to have a Latino at the forefront. That’s it.”

The film is set to be released in theaters on August 18. Blue Beetle is expected to appear in future DC movies.