Hot on the heels of the glorious reception of their latest live-action adventure The Suicide Squad (read our five-star review here), comes news on another major entry in the DC canon due to hit screens in 2023 – Blue Beetle.

With Sundance sensation Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings) previously tapped to direct, working from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Bala), the casting stage is in full swing, with Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña frontrunner to nab the lead role. For those unfamiliar with the hit Karate Kid spin-off series (which is due to launch its feverishly-anticipated fourth season later this year), Xolo plays Miguel Diaz, an outcast teen who is reluctantly taken under the wing of Daniel LaRusso’s mortal enemy – and outcast in his own delightful way – Johnny Lawrence.

Xolo Maridueña

In Blue Beetle, Xolo looks set to portray Jaime Reyes, the current version of the character who was introduced to comic book readers in 2006 – a teenager who bonds with an alien scarab which grants him a nifty suit of high-tech armour and with it, extraordinary power. Similar to DC Films’ Batgirl movie we reported on last week, this project is being developed to premiere on HBO Max in the States, Warner Bros’ increasingly popular streaming service. As we pointed out in that article, it’s unclear as to how international releases of these movies will be handled, with the UK currently having no HBO Max presence, nor any word on whether it will in the future. We’re still holding out hope that these will be treated to theatrical presentations…

That’s it for Blue Beetle scuttlebutt for now, but we’ll have plenty more on the character’s upcoming cinematic adventures as the movie develops…

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