Joey Paur
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When the Blue Beetle trailer was released, there was a bit of backlash from some DC fans over the line of dialogue, “Batman’s a Fascist.” I could see that the creative team was trying to be funny, but some fans just can’t take a joke.
The line was spoken by George Lopez’s character in the movie, Jamie Reyes’s Uncle Rudy, who obviously isn’t a fan of Batman. Director Ángel Manuel Soto and star Xolo Maridueña have responded to the backlash in an interview with MovieMaker.
Soto explained: “We always wanted to have fun with the way Rudy talks about other superheroes. So to the people who got mad at it, give us a chance. We’re just trying to have fun with the characters that we love. And everybody in our movie loves Batman and Superman and Flash … And of course, we have criticisms about all of them, as we all should. But that doesn’t mean that we hate Batman. We love Batman.”
Maridueña went on to add: “F that! Maybe Jaime and the audience don’t agree with Rudy, but you’re allowed to have your opinion. That’s okay … If you felt some type of way about it, that was the point. So I think if you agree with it, if you don’t agree with it, it was placed there for a reason. And you know, all of the people who have their Batman shrines at home can keep them there and they don’t have to worry.”
In the end, the way Uncle Rudy feels about Batman is just part of his character. Not everyone in the DC universe is a fan of Batman! There are even times in DC Comics when Batman has had some fascist subtext including Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns run. Regardless, the whole thing was meant as a joke.
The story for the movie centers on Blue Beetle, a vigilante who has a scarab grafted onto his spine that gives him tremendous powers and the ability to emit blue energy. You get to see that transformation take place in the trailer, and it’s like family-friendly body horror. Here’s the synopsis:
Recent college grad Jaime Reyes 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 Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.
Blue Beetle was directed by Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings) from a screenplay adapted by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Bala). The movie also stars Bruna Marquezine as Penny, the female lead and love interest; Belissa Escobedo as Jamie’s younger sister, Milagros; as well as Harvey Guillén; and Susan Sarandon as the villain Victoria Kord.
The movie is set to be released only in theaters on August 18, 2023.