Xolo Maridueña Says He Hopes to Play BLUE BEETLE for 12 More Years

We are just over a week away from the upcoming DC Studios film Blue Beetle, which is set to star Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as recent college grad Jaime Reyes, who 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.

We have to wait and see how this film does in the box office before we can be sure about a sequel, but Maridueña has high hopes, and says he hopes to play the character for many years.

The young actor told EW (pre-strike), "I'm so excited for everyone to see it," he says. "I'll be right there at the theater with you!" After all, Maridueña has good reason to be hyped. When Blue Beetle hits theaters, it won't just be his superhero debut; it's his first major film ever.

Originally, Blue Beetle was set to debut on streaming service HBO Max, before shifting to a theatrical release. Now, Maridueña says he can't wait to see the film's Palmera City setting on the biggest screen possible.

"It was like winning the lottery twice, quite frankly," Maridueña says with a laugh. "I was already astounded. Just playing a superhero is a life-changing experience and a life-changing opportunity, and I was already so grateful and so appreciative. But to have DC and the greater Warner Bros. family believe that this story is a worldwide story that deserves to be shown to everybody, it was really welcoming and really reassuring."

When talking about how much he loves his co-stars in the film, he gushed, “I want to do 12 more years of Blue Beetle.” He went on, “But my heart is already so fulfilled with this movie. If we do 20 of these movies and 40 cameos or if it's just this one, what's most exciting to me is the opportunity for people to see it and have little kids everywhere saying, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy looks like me. I can be a hero, too.’"

I can’t wait to see this movie! I have high hopes for how fun it’s going to be, and hopefully it does well enough to move forward in the DCU. Blue Beetle opens in theaters on August 18th.