Blue Beetle director says studio pushed for emotional death (SPOILER)

SPOILERS for Blue Beetle. Consider yourself warned. While Blue Beetle may be more light-hearted than other superhero stories, that doesn’t mean that there can’t be some life-or-death stakes.

The death of a family member or close friend in order to motivate a superhero has been done again and again, but… it does work. While speaking with Collider, Blue Beetle director Ángel Manuel Soto said that the original plan was for “nobody” to die, but DC Studios pushed for an “emotional death.” Unfortunately, that meant that Reyes family patriarch Alberto (Damián Alcázar) had to die, but Soto and screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer wanted his death to mean something more.

“‘How can we create the lowest of lows with the family member?” Soto said. “And how that low is not just another death in the superhero genre, but how that low actually ends up being a power for him? At the end of the day, what is that push that this reluctant hero needs at the end of the day for him to embrace his destiny?’ When we started to understand that, we were like, ‘This could be maybe a good opportunity to explore magic realism in this sequence where Jaime is about to die.’“

“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,” reads the official Blue Beetle synopsis. “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.”

In addition to Xolo Maridueña as Jaime, Blue Beetle also stars Adriana Barraza (Rambo: Last Blood) as Jaime’s grandmother, Nana, Damían Alcázar (Narcos: Mexico) as his father, Elpidia Carrillo (Mayans M.C.) as his mother, Bruna Marquezine (God Save the King) as Jenny Kord, Raoul Max Trujillo (Sicario) as Carapax, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) as Victoria Kord, and George Lopez (Rio) as Jaime’s Uncle Rudy. The film also stars Belissa Escobedo (American Horror Stories) as Jaime’s sister, Milagro, and Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) as Dr. Sanchez.

Blue Beetle is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Brad Hamerly right here and let us know what you thought of the film as well.