If it were up to Blue Beetle director Ángel Manuel Soto, his superhero movie would’ve extended a few more minutes past the studio’s self-imposed two-hour limit thanks to George Lopez improvising.
According to Collider, Soto gave the cast time to go off the script to see if they could create something that would make the final cut. As a veteran comedian, it was no surprise that Lopez understood the assignment.
“It was fun because we developed this thing where we shoot the script and then … everybody can do whatever they want,” Soto said. “That’s where George Lopez thrives. He gave like a seven-minute improv rant.”
Although all of Lopez’s improvised dialogue didn’t make the final movie, Soto said he was able to keep a few lines in. “We only had one line in the script, and we just had the camera there, and he gave like a seven-minute improv rant of all the different things that Kord is doing to the community.” Soto shared before adding, “[His rant] went crazy – like stuff that couldn’t be there, but it was fun.”
To narrow down what they did want to keep, they left the improvised moments in a nearly 3-hour cut of the movie. “On the first friends and family screening, when the movie was like two hours and 40 minutes long, we played the whole thing just to hear the ones that people are laughing and connecting with. So, we left three in it.”
Considering how funny and dynamic Uncle Rudy was in Blue Beetle we wouldn’t mind seeing this extended cut. When asked if it would be released, Soto said, “We should. I should!”
Along with Lopez and Maridueña, Blue Beetle stars Mexican actors like Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, and Elpidia Carrillo. Casting Mexicans was something Soto made a point to do since the family in the movie is portrayed as such.
“They bring their own authentic experiences to the movie, and that helps a lot to inform the conditions we want to put the Reyes family in,” he said. “We want the Reyes family to live in a world that affects their environment, that affects their decisions.”
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Blue Beetle being covered here wouldn’t exist.