‘Blue Beetle’: Angel Manuel Soto to Direct Film About DC Comics’ Latino Superhero
“Charm City Kings” director Angel Manuel Soto is set to direct “Blue Beetle,” DC Films and Warner Bros.’ first superhero movie starring a Latino character, individuals with knowledge of the project exclusively tells TheWrap.
The screenplay is from Mexican-born writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, who wrote Universal’s “Scarface” remake and Sony’s “Miss Bala.”
In DC Comics, Blue Beetle is the superhero alter ego used by three different heroes, but the film will focus on Mexican-American teenager Jaime Reyes, the third character to assume the Blue Beetle mantle.
“It is an honor to direct Blue Beetle, the first Latino superhero film for DC,” said Soto in a statement to TheWrap. “I want to sincerely thank everyone at Warner Bros. and DC for trusting me to bring Jaime Reyes to life. I can’t wait to make history together.”
The film is eyeing a fall production start, with Zev Foreman executive-producing for Warner Bros.
Blue Beetle was created by Charles Wojtkowski for Fox Comics in 1939 as the alter ego of Dan Garrett, a police officer who uses experimental vitamins to develop super powers. After Fox went out of business in the 1950s, Charlton Comics obtained rights to Blue Beetle and reimagined Garrett as an archaeologist who receives his powers from ancient Egyptian technology. In 1966 Charlton introduced the character Ted Kord, an athlete and inventor created by legendary comics writer Steve Ditko, as a new version of the hero.
Charlton went out of business in the early 1980s and its characters were bought by DC Comics, which introduced them into the mainstream DC Universe after the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event. Ted Kord remained as Blue Beetle during the transition and notably served as Alan Moore’s inspiration for the character Nite Owl in “Watchmen.”
Created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner in 2006, Jaime Reyes was introduced during the “Infinite Crisis’ crossover event ahead of the launch of a new “Blue Beetle” in May 2006. In contrast to Kord and Garrett, Reyes is a working-class El Paso teenager devoted to his family and with no connections to superheroes prior to receiving his powers.
