Since Marvel and DC started making superhero movies many have asked when the first Latino superhero would get a solo movie. Before his passing, acclaimed comic impresario Stan Lee had an idea that revolved around the creation of a Latino superhero, but so far there’s been nothing further.
Well, DC might be the first to tackle a different type of superhero. It’s been reported by The Wrap that writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, the Mexican-born screenwriter of the upcoming Gina Rodriguez-starring remake of Miss Bala and the upcoming Scarface reboot has been tapped to write the script for Blue Beetle. Originally introduced in 2006, Blue Beetle is the alter-ego of Jaime Reyes, a Mexican-American teenager who stumbles upon a mysterious scarab that fuses with him and produces superpowers.
DC has dabbled with Latino superheroes before, starting with Jay Hernandez as El Diablo in 2016’s Suicide Squad and continuing with Rosie Perez‘s Renee Montoya in Birds of Prey, coming in 2020, but this would be the first time a Latino has received a standalone live-action feature film in the studio’s history. (Miles Morales, the Afro-Latino Spider-Man, is the lead character in Marvel’s animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which hits theaters in this December.)
It’s amazing (and I say that with a touch of sarcasm) that it’s 2018 and DC still doesn’t have Latinos in their own live-action superhero films. Yes, there are side-characters, but they aren’t actually playing leading roles. More often they’re relegated to the ensemble. DC is attempting to rectify the issue, but it’s unclear whether this is a project that will actually get made or if the script will be one of many stuck in the bowels of “development hell.” Fingers crossed!