With a universe in chaos and a regime in flux, there's a new DC hero on the horizon: Blue Beetle.

Nestled between two DC projects with big weights on their shoulders — The Flash and Aquaman 2 — Blue Beetle is a small but potentially exciting new entry into the genre.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t know anything about the film, character or status in the series, it’s been kept on the down low so far to date, but we have all the information you might need for DC’s newest hero.

Blue Beetle's release date

Blue Beetle is scheduled to be released on 18 August which is late into the summer blockbuster season, perhaps to avoid coming into conflict with other high profile blockbusters than might knock it out of screens. Like the cancelled Batgirl movie, Blue Beetle was originally conceived as a HBO Max movie, but unlike the former, this one got bumped up to a theatrical release rather than being bumped off entirely.

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Coming from Puerto Rican director Angel Manuel Soto, who previously director the acclaimed Charm City Kings, it’s clearly opened doors for him as he’s already been tapped to helm a Transformers film.

Reports have given the runtime as a mighty 2 hours 45 minutes but this is not confirmed as the final runtime and subject to change when the film finally drops in a few months time.

It’s entirely possible that Warner Bros. might opt for a brisker runtime to avoid major losses in screens especially given their reputation of late and the new nature of the hero but that people known of it’s length says it might have tested well already.

Blue Beetle cast

Despite being in the DCEU, Blue Beetle is a fresh cast of characters for audiences to come to know. It also looks to promise a Latin-American superhero in the same vein that Shang-Chi offered an Asian superhero film, or Black Panther a Black superhero film.

Xolo Maridueña, best known for starring role as Miguel Diaz in Netflix series Cobra Kai makes his film debut as Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle a teenager who gains superpowers from an alien scarab.

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Around him are a great supporting cast including Bruna Marquezine (Maldivas) as Reyes’ love interest Penny, Belissa Escobedo (Hocus Pocus 2) as his sister Milagros and Harvey Guillén (What We Do In The Shadows) in an undisclosed role.

Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza (Babel) will play Reyes’ grandmother, and TV legend George Lopez will feature as his uncle. Elipidia Carrillo, best known for 80s classic Predator, will feature alongside Narcos: Mexico star Damián Alcázar and Raoul Trujillo as Carapax the Indestructible Man.

Most interestingly is the inclusion of screen legend Susan Sarandon as the sinister antagonist figure Victoria Kord.

What is the plot of Blue Beetle?

Blue Beetle charts the origin of superhero Blue Beetle, a Mexican teenager called Jaime Reyes who is granted superhero armour when an alien scarab beetle grafts itself to him.

The choice to go for a smaller scale is wise given that this could also be a film easily added to the new universe Gunn is crafting and having it less connected to what came before might mean that audiences are more open to it.

Is there a trailer for Blue Beetle?

No. So far very little has been revealed beyond a teaser poster and some concept art, and since it’s not out until August and we have Shazam! and The Flash before then it makes sense that DC isn’t overloading our minds with movie information.

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We can probably expect a teaser to come soon, especially once Shazam! is out and The Flash is in the consciousness.

Blue Beetle is in cinemas from 18 August, 2023.