Blue Beetle Trailer: Xolo Mariduena Makes His Debut As The DC Universe's Newest Hero

The small screen cannot contain DC's "Blue Beetle." Although the original plan was for the movie to head straight to HBO Max, it will now be flying in theaters first later this year — and Warner Bros. has finally dropped the first teaser trailer.

Directed by Angel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, "Blue Beetle" will introduce audiences to the first Latino DC hero, a high schooler named Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña, "Cobra Kai") who gains superpowers from an alien scarab beetle (as one tends to do). Susan Sarandon is set to play the villain, Victoria Kord, with George Lopez and Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza playing members of Jamie's extended family. Soto spoke previously about his desire to make a film informed by authentic Mexican and Mexican-American perspectives.

Everybody wants a piece of the "Blue Beetle" action — including Zach Braff, who has said he would like to play the Ted Kord version of the character opposite his old "Scrubs" costar Donald Faison as Beetle's fellow DC hero, Booster Gold. If you share his "Blue Beetle" excitement, check out the trailer below, which gives us our first real glimpse of what to expect from the film outside of concept art.

Also set to appear in "Blue Beetle" is "What We Do in the Shadows" actor Harvey Guillén, who raved about the movie in an interview with /Film last year. "You feel so seen when you watch this film if you're part of the Latino community," he said. "The language that is used, the scenarios, the settings, you're going to feel like, 'Oh my gosh, my culture is on screen. That is how we talk at home.'" 

Guillén went on to explain that while the movie was full of familiar moments for him, "it's also going to, if you're not Latino, it's going to make you feel introduced and welcomed."

"Blue Beetle" is set to release in theaters on August 18, 2023. Here's the official synopsis:

Recent college grad Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle.