“Maybe they brushed shoulders”: Blue Beetle Director Hid a Secret Batman Villain Reference in Xolo Maridueña Starrer After His Rejected Pitch at WB
With the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle has emerged as a winner leaving behind all the obstacles for its theatrical release in August. The Latino-led superhero movie has been expected to break the streak of flop projects from the house of DC. As Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Black Adam, and The Flash fell flat both critically and commercially at the box office, all eyes are set on the Blue Beetle for the revival of better days at the billion-dollar franchise.
However, not many people know that the story of Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle wasn’t the first pitch director Ángel Manuel Soto made to the production house. He went with a story that dealt with the character of Batman’s biggest enemy and supervillain Bane. The antagonist character was written by Graham Nolan and Chuck Dixon for DC Comics.
Blue Beetle Director On His Highly Esteemed Project Based On DC’s Supervillain Bane
During an interview with the reputed entertainment outlet, The Hollywood Reporter, Blue Beetle director Ángel Manuel Soto spoke about one of the supervillains from the House of DC and how it helped in the character development of Carapax. He said-
“[W]hen we were developing Raoul Max Trujillo’s character, we always had the idea that maybe Carapax and Bane came from the same [CIA] experiments. Of course, the backstory of Bane is different. His whole journey is very different from Carapax.”
While drawing similarities between Bane and Carapax, He further added-
“In fact that they’re both victims of historical exploitation in our communities is something that I wanted to share. Maybe they brushed shoulders or maybe they never saw each other, but they’re both victims of a similar experimentation.”
This is not the first time the Peurto Rican filmmaker spoke about his obsession with Bane during the promotion of Blue Beetle. He has been interested in exploring the unseen and untold side of the DC’s supervillain. Bane was born in a prison located on one of the remotest Caribbean islands. As an adult, he was a test subject for the powerful steroid Venom. His hunger to destroy the Gotham City eventually makes him one of the biggest enemies of Batman.
Ángel Manuel Soto On How He Went From Bane To Blue Beetle
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 40-year-old filmmaker spoke about how he went from exploring the untouched side of supervillain Bane to landing himself his first DC project with maximum Latin artists onboard. He said-
“During the pandemic, I had a general meeting with DC after the response to Charm City Kings winning [U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast] at Sundance and then streaming on HBO Max. So I got a call from Galen Vaisman, one of the executives at DC, and for a general meeting, you have to be prepared if they ask you what you want to do. And I’ve always wanted to explore the origin story of Bane.”
He further continued-
It’s super intriguing, especially where he comes from and the different topics that could be explored if we take into consideration that maybe he’s the hero of his own story. So it was very interesting to be able to talk about situations that have affected the Caribbean and Latin America for centuries through the character of Bane.
While explaining about Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle he said-
“So I came in with that idea, but that was Matt Reeves’ universe with The Batman, and I don’t know what’s going to happen now with this new regime. But that was my main attempt, and Galen was like, “Okay, that’s a good idea, but we wanted to pitch you something.” And that’s when he introduced the idea of Blue Beetle.”
With great audience reception and gradual progress at the box office, there is a strong possibility that Blue Beetle might bring back the good old days for DC.
Blue Beetle is now playing in movie theaters.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
