‘BLUE BEETLE’ director on family-focused superhero movie, food that represents home

Preston Barta // Features Editor

Most superhero movies involve strangers with unique abilities coming together to defeat evil. However, Ángel Manuel Soto’s Blue Beetle is all about Dominic Toretto’s favorite word: family.

Of course, you have the titular good guy, Blue Beetle, a.k.a. Jaime Reyes (Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña), a Latino college graduate who becomes the symbiotic host of an alien scarab and gets extraordinary powers. But who’s his tech genius? Probably a Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark type, right? Not exactly. It’s Jaime’s wacky uncle (George Lopez). Then, you have Jaime’s sister (Belissa Escobedo), mother (Elpida Carrillo), father (Damián Alcázar), and big-gun-toting nana (Adriana Barraza). Jaime’s defense/offense is his family, and that’s what Soto gives this superhero movie to add a new flavor.

Soto (La Granja and Charm City Kings) recently made a pitstop in Dallas to discuss Blue Beetle. Fresh Fiction joined him at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Cedars to chat about the family aspects, what food taste best represents home to him, and how Barraza’s Nana character has a Terminator 2 moment. 

Enjoy the six-minute video interview below, and catch Blue Beetle in theaters this weekend!