Blue Beetle Director Says James Gunn Didn’t Have ‘Much Input’ With the Final Cut

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Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto has confirmed James Gunn and fellow DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran had minimal involvement with his upcoming superhero movie.

Gunn has described Blue Beetle as the first real DCU character, ushering in a new age of DC superheroes. However, Soto told GamesRadar+ there was “not much” input from the studio heads in bringing the character to the big screen because they both “respected” his vision for the final cut of the new DC movie.

“The studio always, generally, has their hands on it. As far as the essence of the story, [James Gunn and Peter Safran] liked what we were doing, and they respected the vision and what we were trying to do with the film,” Soto said. “They really did appreciate the fresh take, the nostalgic factor of how we start the film by taking the audience to see the family and fall in love with them for a prologue-of-sorts.”

Blue Beetle stars Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes, a recent college grad who gains superpowers after coming into contact with the Scarab — an ancient relic of alien biotechnology that bestows him with an incredible suit of armour and extraordinary newfound abilities, which he uses to protect his family and the rest of the world.

The theme of “family” is an important one in the movie, so Soto took particular care crafting each individual character in the Reyes clan, including Adriana Barraza as Jaime’s grandmother, Damían Alcázar as his father, Elpidia Carrillo as his mother, George Lopez as Jaime’s Uncle Rudy, and Belissa Escobedo as Jaime’s sister.

“We didn’t want to treat them like props,” Soto explained. “We want to give them arcs. They all deserve the attention that we give them. The love that you feel for them makes everything that happen more visceral.”

The movie, which hits theatres on August 18, is trapped between the end of the DCEU and the beginning of the revamped DCU, which officially kicks off Chapter One in 2025 with James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, even though the DCEU’s Blue Beetle and “a handful of other characters” are still making the leap to the DCU.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.