Actress and recording artist Becky G has joined DC’s upcoming “Blue Beetle” in a crucial role, she announced on her social media on Monday.
The singer is voicing the Scarab, an alien-created artificial intelligence that gives superpowers to Blue Beetle, played by “Cobra Kai” breakout and fan favorite Xolo Maridueña.
In the DC Comics, Scarab has been passed down through several of the heroes who have operated as Blue Beetle. Designed to bond symbiotically with its host, the Scarab can provide a wide range of abilities, including enhanced strength, durability, and energy projection. However, it also has a mind of its own and can sometimes take control of its host, leading to conflicts and challenges for the Blue Beetle.
In DC Comics, Blue Beetle is the superhero alter ego used by three different heroes; Maridueña plays Mexican American teenager Jaime Reyes, the third character to assume the Blue Beetle mantle. It’s DC Studios’ first superhero movie centered on a Latino character.
Maridueña previously said that “Blue Beetle” is a combination of both a DC and Marvel superhero.
“He’s kind of like a fusion of Green Lantern and Iron Man,” Maridueña said. “He has a scarab from outer space that is attached to his body called Khaji da.”
“Charm City Kings” director Angel Manuel Soto directed the superhero movie from a screenplay from Mexican writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, based on characters from DC.
John Rickard and Zev Foreman are producing, with Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman and Garrett Grant serving as executive producers.
The newly released synopsis for the film is as follows: 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.
The film also stars Adriana Barraza (“Rambo: Last Blood,” “Thor”) as Jaime’s grandmother, Nana, Damían Alcázar (“Narcos,” “Narcos: Mexico”) as his father, Elpidia Carrillo (“Mayans M.C.,” the “Predator” films) as his mother, Bruna Marquezine (“Maldivas,” “God Save the King”) as Jenny Kord, Raoul Max Trujillo (the “Sicario” films, “Mayans M.C.”) as Carapax, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (“Monarch,” “Dead Man Walking”) as Victoria Kord, and George Lopez (the “Rio and “Smurf” franchises) as Jaime’s Uncle Rudy. The film also stars Belissa Escobedo (“American Horror Stories,” “Hocus Pocus 2”) as Jaime’s sister, Milagro, and Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows”) as Dr. Sanchez.
A Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation, a Safran Company Production, “Blue Beetle” launches in North America August 18, 2023. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
