Blue Beetle star Xolo Maridueña says James Gunn enjoyed the movie

Before the new DC Universe officially kicks off with Superman: Legacy, we still have two films that were developed under the old DCEU to go — Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Blue Beetle. The Aquaman sequel won’t be released until December, but Blue Beetle will be hitting theaters next month, and star Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) told Total Film that it has gotten the seal of approval from James Gunn himself.

“I just remember James Gunn has this really excited energy to him all the time,” Xolo Maridueña said. “But them coming into this position of the movie already being made, and then being like, ‘All right [mimes rifling through a filing cabinet as if rummaging through the movie], let’s see what we have here’ – it was very rewarding for them to actually respond well to it and enjoy it. They had their notes here and there story-wise, but I think, in capturing the essence of Jaime and the Reyes family, [they] think we did a really great job.” While Superman: Legacy will be the first movie in the DCU, James Gunn has said that Blue Beetle is the first DCU character.

In addition to Xolo Maridueña, 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. Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings) directed Blue Beetle from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Bala).

The remnants of the previous DC franchise haven’t done all that well at the box office, but Xolo Maridueña has said that Blue Beetle could spawn a franchise in the DCU, it just depends on how the movie performs. “If we get one movie or a trilogy and f**king fold this into the Justice League shit, we’re ready for the whole nine,” Maridueña said. “For me and Angel [Manuel Soto, director] and the team, we kicked ass with this movie. It just depends on numbers.“

Blue Beetle will hit theaters on August 18th.