The Big Picture
- Director Ángel Manuel Soto enlisted frequent Ari Aster collaborators Pawel Pogorzelski and Bobby Krlic for Blue Beetle, connecting with their emotional understanding of the story despite cultural differences.
- Soto prioritized emotional stakes and character connection over flashy visuals in the multi-million dollar superhero movie, emphasizing the power of empathy.
- Blue Beetle marks the first act of a larger storyline for Jaime Reyes, indicating a potential for the character’s future within the DC Universe, alongside the development of a Booster Gold TV series.
When you think about Blue Beetle and its connections to other movies released before it, titles like Hereditary and Midsommar are probably not the ones that will immediately pop into your head. However, you may be surprised to know that director Ángel Manuel Soto managed to “borrow” members of horror master Ari Aster’s team to put the superhero blockbuster together, as he told Collider’s Editor-in-Chef Steve Weintraub in an interview.
During the interview, Soto explained how director of photography Pawel Pogorzelski (Fresh) and composer Bobby Krlic (Beef) became “very persistent in wanting to do the movie.” Soto commented that they “connected to the story” even though they’re from Nothern Europe and Jaime Reyes’ (Xolo Maridueña) story is about Mexican culture. But this is exactly the kind of universal connection that Soto was going for:
“Pawel is Polish, and the script is a Mexican family. He felt like this was his family, he felt like this was his story. He had lost his dad, and this meant so much to him, and he felt connected to the Reyes family, and that type of understanding at an emotional level from an artist is what I like to tap into. Same thing with Bobby Krlic, the composer, who also did ‘Midsommar’ and ‘Beau Is Afraid’ – I’m taking all of Ari Aster’s guys! They connected, and we talked about the story, and they would cry about how much it meant to them. That’s the type of creative relationship that I like to have.”
Blue Beetle Goes Big But Stays Grounded
Soto added that even though he set out to make a multi-million dollar superhero movie, he couldn’t lose track of the fact that “emotional stakes and the emotional connection to have with the characters” trumps whatever else is on the screen. Ultimately, the purpose of art in general is to provoke some sort of emotion, and cinema in particular is frequently aiming for empathy. That’s why even though Blue Beetle’s story is very specific to Latin American culture, it has elements to make it resonate with people from all different walks of life.
Blue Beetle certainly has more stories to tell, as Soto indicates that he thinks of this movie as the first act of a much bigger arc development for Jaime Reyes. However, we’ll need to wait for box office numbers to see how the world responds to the new hero and then start to understand how the new DC Universe will play out in the hands of James Gunn and Peter Safran. However, it’s safe to say that elements of the Blue Beetle universe will live on as a Booster Gold TV series is currently in development.
Blue Beetle is playing in theaters now. Check out our full conversation with Ángel Manuel Soto and stay tuned at Collider for future DCU updates.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
