Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto has admitted that, despite some early fears, Warner Bros. is fully behind the upcoming DC Extended Universe film.

Speaking with National Public Radio, the director explained how Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to shelve the Batgirl film initially had the Blue Beetle cast and crew worried that their film would suffer the same fate. "I'm not going to lie. There was concern, anger, fear at first," he said. Studio executives later reassured Soto that Blue Beetle was still set to hit theaters. "They told me not to worry, the film has their full support."

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Following Warner Bros.' decision to shelve Batgirl, despite the film being near the end of its post-production, DC fans expressed concern that the studio might also shelve Blue Beetle and Black Canary, two other superhero films in development that featured POC leads. Warner Bros. later confirmed that no other DC films would be shelved. Set in the DCEU, Batgirl was going to be the first DC film released exclusively on HBO Max. Leslie Grace was cast to play Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the film, which would have also featured Michael Keaton's Batman, J. K. Simmons' Commissioner Gordon and Brendan Fraser as the film's villain, Firefly.

Blue Beetle Joins the DCEU

Blue Beetle was initially developed as an HBO Max-exclusive release but was shifted to a theatrical release in December 2021. Filming on Blue Beetle began in May 2022 and officially wrapped in July 2022, with director Angel Manuel Soto promising fans that the cast and crew had "made a very badass movie." Cobra Kai's Xolo Maridueña stars in the lead role as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle, a teenager who comes into contact with the Scarab, one of the most powerful pieces of technology in the universe, which granted the original Blue Beetle his powers. The Scarab forms an alien exosuit around Reyes in addition to granting him numerous abilities such as flight, enhanced strength, and weapon and energy generation.

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The rest of the cast includes Bruna Marquezine as Penny, George Lopez as Rudy, Adriana Barraza as Nana, Belissa Escobedo as Milagros Reyes, Elpidia Carrillo as Rocio, Damián Alcázar as Alberto, Raoul Trujillo as Carapax the Indestructible Man and Harvey Guillén in an undisclosed role with Susan Sarandon as the film's big bad, Victoria Kord. The acclaimed actor recently discussed her villainous turn, explaining that her character is "the white military-industrial complex" and that she had "a fabulous time [filming Blue Beetle] because there's nothing better than being bad."

Blue Beetle opens in theaters on Aug. 18, 2023.

Source: National Public Radio