Miguel Soto Celebrates Blue Beetle : Famous Puerto Rican director Miguel Manuel Soto recognized Blue Beetle, DC’s first Latino-focused superhero film, was a significant deal and an honor.
“We don’t often get the chance to tell these kinds of stories, especially when we’re mostly supporting characters in big movies,” he explains.
Blue Beetle introduces 22-year-old Jaime Reyes, played by Cobra Kai star Xolo Mariduea. As the first in his family to graduate college, he returns to Palmera City. The city looks different because growth changed his family’s business and childhood home. The oldest, Jaime, must work hard to support his family and find his calling until he meets Jenny Kord, the CEO’s niece, at Kord Industries, a sudden turn in his love life. Jaime and his family are transformed when he receives a bright blue scarab with alien technology.
Soto painstakingly depicted a close-knit Mexican American family in Blue Beetle, starring a predominantly Mexican ensemble. “Our story resonated because it was authentic to our Latino roots,” he explains. “Many things on-screen mirror the cast’s real-life experiences, showing their Latino roots.”
The movie doesn’t overplay the Latino card, says Soto. Instead, it celebrates their uniqueness. “Why not celebrate our differences, be ourselves, and prove superheroes can look like us?” Jaime is a hero because he always supports his family.
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Jaime’s family connection to his superpowers is fascinating in Blue Beetle. “It’s almost impossible to hide anything from a Latina mother,” jokes Soto.
After the scarab picks him, Jaime becomes Blue Beetle. This makes him the perfect hero: a family-oriented champion for the regular people. His family includes a watchful mother, practical father, insistent grandmother, weird uncle, and straight-talking sibling. They guide Jaime and influence his change. Each member travels on a different adventure, demonstrating that genuine heroism is self-discovery.
The movie’s most Latino aspect is the Reyes family’s deep bond, not the cultural issues.
Blue Beetle is avoiding large debuts since the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are ongoing. For Soto, this voyage alone is sad and joyous. “I carry their spirits with me,” he says, referring to the group’s collaboration throughout filming.
Mariduea’s first DC appearance was essential, especially since Soto’s film is DC Studios’ first superhero film under James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Soto explains their absence: “Their fight for fair pay and equal treatment is the most important thing, even if it means putting immediate successes on the back burner.”
Blue Beetle took patience and much labor to create. Soto wants box office success and more. “If the youth can see themselves in these stories, feel acknowledged and gain power, it’s life-changing,” he says. “We’ve been told to hide our true selves for ages. It was refreshing to embrace my self.”
Blue Beetle was supposed to broadcast on Max with another Leslie Grace project. Warner Bros.’s decision and hefty budget pushed for a theatrical release.
Hopeful and ambitious, Soto concludes, “We can write compelling stories. We can be happy and heroic in our stories.
