It was only a matter of time before the DCEU began to expand into the world of streaming, and the franchise’s first two HBO Max exclusives are finally gathering some real momentum. Batgirl has Bad Boys for Life duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah directing a script from Birds of Prey‘s Christina Hodson, with Leslie Grace set as Barbara Gordon and J.K. Simmons in talks to return as her father, and now Blue Beetle has set its sights on a leading man.
Cobra Kai star Xolo Maridueña is deep in negotiations to play Jamie Reyes in the character’s feature film debut, with a screenplay initially penned by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, who wrote the in-development Scarface remake and action thriller Miss Bala. Angel Manuel Soto, who helmed acclaimed drama Charm City Kings and is also attached to an untitled Transformers movie for Paramount, is expected to call action later this year now that the title hero has been cast.
The Jamie Reyes version of Blue Beetle resides in El Paso with his family, where he finds a sacred scarab in an abandoned lot that fuses with him to give him superpowers, so there’s every chance the HBO Max adaptation could broadly stick to that template, with Soto putting his own spin on the material.
Maridueña is no stranger to finding success on streaming having appeared in every episode of Cobra Kai so far as Miguel Diaz, which became one of the biggest and most popular shows on the planet when it migrated from YouTube to Netflix, and with production on Season 4 having wrapped earlier this year, his schedule is now cleared for Blue Beetle to get in front of cameras well before the end of 2021 to potentially hit HBO Max next year.