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The DCU's newest hero, Blue Beetle, made his big screen debut this weekend. Star Xolo Maridueña has a message about diversity in Hollywood.
Speaking to People in July prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Maridueña reflected on his first decade in Hollywood. He described Hollywood as a “fickle” industry, saying, “It's hard out there. There's not necessarily a tangible, like, ‘No you are a doctor, now you are a lawyer.'”
He continued by speaking about some of 2023's films that highlighted various ethnicities. “But I think with movies like Blue Beetle, [Spider-Man] Across the Spider-Verse, Joy Ride, all of these wonderful movies highlighting, in a really positive way, different cultures, it'll hopefully instill confidence” in young moviegoers seeing themselves on screen.
“That's something I find so inspiring about movies,” Maridueña said. “I remember some of my earliest memories were watching Men in Black a hundred thousand times because I just thought Will Smith was the coolest guy ever. And he wasn't even Latino! [Representation] really goes a log way and I'm so excited finally for Blue Beetle to come out to just fill in another piece of the puzzle.”
Xolo Maridueña makes his DCU debut as Jaime Reyes in Blue Beetle. In the film, Jaime is a recent college graduate who is chosen as the host of the Scarab — giving him the titular hero's armor. He faces off with the powerful Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), and her henchman Ignacio Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo). The film grossed $43.4 million during its opening weekend.
Blue Beetle is in theaters now.
