Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images and Warner Bros.
(Warning: Spoilers follow for Blue Beetle.)
Latinos finally get their own big-screen superhero this weekend with Blue Beetle, an adaptation of a lesser-known comic-book character who derives his power from both his insectoid alien armor (courtesy of a symbiotic scarab) and, in true Dom Toretto fashion, from his close-knit family.
Arriving at the tail end of this chapter of Warner Bros’ DC universe—which is on the cusp of a major reboot spearheaded by James Gunn and Peter Safran—Ángel Manuel Soto’s film is a second-rate adventure stitched together with elements from countless superior spectaculars. While it leans heavily into its Mexican heritage, no amount of telenovela-themed jokes and Spanish-language soundtrack cuts can gussy up its generic blandness. Barring a surprise box-office performance, it’s hard to imagine Blue Beetle factoring into the reconfigured franchise’s future plans.