Cobra Kai's Xolo Maridueña Has Been Ready to Be the 'Blue Beetle' for Years

"I'm so excited for all the kids who are going to see someone who looks like them kicking butt."

Cobra Kai's Xolo Maridueña is going from kicking butt on Earth to doing so in the multiverse in the latest DC Comics film Blue Beetle (August 18) as Jamie Reyes, the Blue Beetle. "I'm so excited about people meeting this character for the first time." The film is not only the young actor's big screen debut, but also the first DC Comics movie to focus solely on a Latin superhero. "I really feel like it's taken all 22 years of my life so far to be ready for this moment." Despite the movie's groundbreaking progress and diversity, Maridueña wants people to see it for more than just that. "I hope people, with this movie, can start to marinate on the fact that this is a movie, that Latino is not the genre, that superhero was the genre, and the characters happened to be Latino." He also wants Blue Beetle to open doors for other superhero stories we've yet to see. "I hope that in success, it offers the opportunity for others to tell their most authentic stories. It may be the first time that a Latino is hitting the big screen in a lead [superhero] role, but it can't be the last."

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Editor's Note: This conversation took place before the Screen Actors Guild strike was announced.

How exciting it must be to be playing the Blue Beetle?

Honestly, it's indescribable. I think as an actor and as someone who wants to achieve everything, honestly, being a superhero is something unfathomable, so I'm so grateful and so appreciative. And I'm so excited for the movie to come out. It's very ambitious. It was a really big step for me, career wise. I'd never worked on a movie before. But I feel like we really knocked it out of the park. So at this point, the feeling that I have is a gracious feeling, but also an exhilarating [one]. I got ants in my pants.

I guess, in this case, more like beetles in your pants.

That's right. Yeah. [laughs]

A superhero franchise is a big jump forward for you. Do you feel prepared?

Honestly, I do. I really feel like it's taken all 22 years of my life so far to be ready for this moment. I'm so blessed with a wonderful family and friends and team who support me. And at the end of the day, the thing that I'm most excited about for this movie and for this opportunity is not necessarily for myself to become the biggest star, it's really for the opportunities for people to feel represented and to feel seen on the biggest screen and on the biggest platform. That's why I'm so excited for all the kids who are going to be able to see someone who looks like them kicking butt. That's what I'm excited about.

Were you a fan of the comics before you got the part?

I was a fan of Blue Beetle, but I wasn't a big comic reader. That was definitely more of my mom. But I had seen Young Justice, the TV show that Jaime makes a pretty large appearance in in the second season. So I was familiar with the character, but it wasn't really until I booked the role that I had to go back and then read up on not only my Blue Beetle, but the other movies as well.

I love that your mother was the comic book fan in the family. How did she react to your casting?

You know what? She had the most perfect reaction, and it's funny you asked that. So I found out about booking this role at a dinner. I got surprised at the dinner with the director and the writer and the producers of the movie, my family hadn't known, my team hadn't known. So I'm at this dinner, and Angel [Manuel Soto], the director of Blue Beetle, picked up the phone and said some really, really kind words. He said, "As far as I'm concerned, your son was the only person in mind for this role." And my mom had the most legendary response ever. She said, "Of course, he's the only guy for the role." She did a great job of playing cool, but as a comic fan, she was so excited. And also, Jamie, even from the comics, had such a great, authentic, natural way of bringing "Latinidad" to the page. And we were just so excited that we had the opportunity to bring that to life.

I feel like your mom would probably say you're perfect for any role.

Yes, you're totally correct. She is the biggest supporter. And honestly, I've been acting for a long time, almost 12 years, and I really think that family support is what helped gain the confidence.

Because the story of Blue Beetle will be new to many, where do we find him in the film? What's the premise?

Of course, and honestly, that's one of the things that I'm so excited about, people meeting this character for the first time. But to kind of give you a rundown, Jamie Reyes is a 22-year-old young man, just finishing up college. He is an archetype, really a symbol for what I would deem like the American dream, the idea that we can come to a new place and make a new life and whatnot. Jamie played by the rules, but still has seemingly gotten the short end of the stick and all of a sudden, he gets presented with this opportunity that he feels maybe he is not meant for. But alas, the universe has chosen him. And I think that honestly, it reflected a lot of how I felt in my own life. I've really been the recipient in the acting world, at least I feel, of people believing that I could rise to the occasion even when I didn't know if I could, and the same goes for this role. And it really felt like art was imitating life in that sense.

So what was what was it like preparing to play this character? And how difficult was it to like actually shoot some of these scenes?

It was a different feel from Cobra Kai. I really feel like the six years that I had on Cobra Kai really helped prepare me for not only the stunt work, but just the pacing of having to do action and dialogue as well. But I gotta be honest, a lot of the stunts in this movie are ones that I wasn't familiar with on Cobra Kai. [On Cobra Kai] we are on the ground most of the time doing kicking and punching and there's not really any weapons involved per se. But with Blue Beetle there is an otherworldly aspect to them, and that was so exciting. But at the end of the day, I really have to give all the props to our wonderful stunt team, because they just went above and beyond. So I am so glad to have been accompanied by a wonderful team who kicked a**, figuratively and literally.

What is the Blue Beetle's special ability, and how does he stand out from other superheroes in the DC universe?

The powers are really as far as the imagination can reach. He is selected as a host to destroy the world on whichever planet it's on. And on earth, it [the special powers] attaches itself to Jamie, but we find that this one maybe isn't going to destroy the whole world. And because Jamie is the host, he's going to make sure that that doesn't happen. And when it comes to the powers, I mean, he's got wings. He's bulletproof. Arms turn into whatever he can imagine. One of the most exciting parts of the movie for me is that this kid, he watched superhero movies and he loves anime. So when it comes to the types of weapons that he can imagine, it really does feel reminiscent of the type of sh** that I would create myself, if I had the opportunity to turn my fist into whatever I wanted. I would be choosing the craziest anime swords there are, you know? I think that that part was so fun and really experimental. And really what makes the comics unique is the family aspects. I truly feel like no superhero movie to date has really been able to capture at the level that we have this intimate family experience. Jamie is getting his powers for the first time in front of his family. I think that that keeps the story so honest and so grounded from day one because there is no hiding from mom and dad that I'm Blue Beetle. They know and they're along for the ride from the very get-go. And I think that helps keep the story so truthful.

I enjoy DC films, but they often feel so serious, whereas Blue Beetle feels light, almost funny. How do you think Blue Beetle is different from other films in the DC franchise?

Honestly, what I've been so appreciative about the DC world, even before we entered in, is that they really seemed to highlight the filmmaker, regardless as to the project. I really feel like Christopher Nolan's signature is on the Dark Knight movies. I think when it comes down to Blue Beetle, I think that's no different. Angel Manuel Soto, our director, and Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, our writer, really found a way to bring their lives and their experiences to the page and on the big screen. And I think that that really is where filmmakers shine, when they know the story that they need to tell and they can speak from the most authentic place. Speaking to the fun of this movie, with George Lopez and Susan Sarandon and this wonderful ensemble that we've collected, it can't help but feel vibrant and electric because these people are pros in all of their own fields and it was just surreal to meet all of them a week before filming and then start to film and have it feel like we've known each other our whole lives. It really felt like a family unit.

What I love about the film is that it's something very relatable, but from a community we've rarely seen represented in superhero movies: Latin Americans.

Absolutely. I think family transcends ethnicity and transcends labels and the love we have for our family. Whether it's our chosen family or otherwise, it's the most intimate love that we can have. And when you're able to bring that to the biggest stage, I think the love and the empathy only comes inherently. And that was honestly really cathartic for me, getting to play a character and be a part of a family who is so optimistic and so loving and really positive, even through strife, even through difficulties. It honestly rubbed off. Getting to live in this world where, even through hard times, we're going to do it with a smile on our face and know that as long as we have each other it's going to be okay, that definitely was very cathartic.

In the end, what do you hope people take from this film?

I hope people, with this movie, can start to marinate on the fact that this is a movie, that Latino is not the genre, that superhero was the genre, and the characters happened to be Latino. I just can't wait for [Latinos] be reflected in a positive way. Because, although, Latinos have had a presence in the industry for a long time, I feel that a lot of the stories have been really trauma based. We see these really heavy stories, and they're honest to the experiences, I think that they're just one aspect. Every culture has different stories to tell. I'm just so excited to tell positive stories. So that's what I'm hoping that people get from this movie.

I think Blue Beetle is going to do a lot of good.

Absolutely. And this movie isn't supposed to capture the entire Latino experience, because it's impossible. You go to Brazil, you go to Mexico, you stay in the United States even, no two Latinos have the same upbringing. So what we were so blessed with was the opportunity to meet dozens of Latinos and see all the different types of backgrounds and understand that it's not a monolith, this is just one story. And I hope that in success, it offers the opportunity for others to tell their most authentic stories. I know that it may be the first time that a Latino is hitting the big screen in a lead [superhero] role, but it can't be the last. I hope that people will enjoy this movie [and create] opportunity for others, for queer superheroes, for Indian superheroes, for all of these different types of superheroes. Because, especially in this very specific superhero genre, these are often the most empowering stories, because they're the heroes of the story.

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