‘Cobra Kai’ Star Xolo Maridueña to Star as ‘Blue Beetle’ for

“Corba Kai” breakout Xolo Maridueña is in talks to star within the lead function of Jaime Reyes in “Blue Beetle” for HBO Max, Warner Bros. and DC Films first superhero film starring a Latino character, TheWrap has completely realized.

“Charm City Kings” director Angel Manuel Soto is about to direct.

The screenplay is from Mexican-born author Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, who wrote Universal’s “Scarface” remake and Sony’s “Miss Bala.”

In DC Comics, Blue Beetle is the superhero alter ego utilized by three totally different heroes, however the movie will concentrate on Mexican-American teenager Jaime Reyes, the third character to imagine the Blue Beetle mantle.

The movie is trying to begin manufacturing early subsequent yr, with John Rickard producing for HBO Max. Zev Foreman is executive-producing.

Blue Beetle was created by Charles Wojtkowski for Fox Comics in 1939 because the alter ego of Dan Garrett, a police officer who makes use of experimental nutritional vitamins to develop tremendous powers. After Fox went out of enterprise within the 1950s, Charlton Comics obtained rights to Blue Beetle and reimagined Garrett as an archaeologist who receives his powers from historic Egyptian expertise. In 1966 Charlton launched the character Ted Kord, an athlete and inventor created by legendary comics author Steve Ditko, as a brand new model of the hero.

Charlton went out of enterprise within the early 1980s and its characters had been purchased by DC Comics, which launched them into the mainstream DC Universe after the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover occasion. Ted Kord remained as Blue Beetle through the transition and notably served as Alan Moore’s inspiration for the character Nite Owl in “Watchmen.”

Created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner in 2006, Jaime Reyes was launched through the “Infinite Crisis’ crossover occasion forward the launch of a brand new “Blue Beetle” in May 2006. In distinction to Kord and Garrett, Reyes is a working class El Paso teenager dedicated to his household and with no connections to superheroes previous to receiving his powers.

Jaime Reyes found the Blue Beetle scarab on the way in which dwelling from college with two of his finest buddies Paco and Brenda, half-buried in a disused lot. Reyes took the scarab dwelling, curious as to what it is likely to be. That evening, the scarab got here alive, and grafted itself to the bottom of Jaime’s backbone, and offered him with a go well with of extraterrestrial armor which will be modified to reinforce his pace and energy, in addition to to create weapons, wings and shields.

While DC has had Latino characters in its film universe, (Jay Hernandez as El Diablo in “Suicide Squad,” and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya in “Birds of Prey”), and forged Latina Sasha Calle to play Supergirl in “The Flash,” this would be the first stand-alone title to characteristic a Latino lead. Also of be aware, “In the Heights” breakout star Leslie Grace, who’s Dominican American, has received the function in “Batgirl” and can star as crime fighter Barbara Gordon within the upcoming movie set at HBO Max.

According to the MPAA, in 2017, Hispanic/Latino audiences had the best per-capita attendance on the motion pictures, going to the film a mean of 4.5 instances a yr. Latinos make up 18 % of the inhabitants, and so they purchase 24 % of the film tickets offered within the United States. It can be value noting, superhero motion pictures have a tendency to attract probably the most numerous audiences as Latinos made up 22 % of the viewers for “Wonder Woman” and 21 % of the viewers for “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

Maridueña, who’s of Mexican, Cuban and Ecuadorian heritage, at the moment stars as Miguel Diaz within the Netflix unique collection “Cobra Kai,” the continuation of the “Karate Kid” franchise. The fourth season of “Cobra Kai” will premiere within the fourth quarter of 2021.

Maridueña is repped by UTA and Osbrink, managed by Valor Entertainment Group,  lawyer is John Meigs at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman and…