Though various incarnations of the superhero Blue Beetle have appeared on comic book pages since 1939, the current version of the character is a somewhat recent addition to the DC Comics pantheon. Introduced in 2006, Jamie Reyes, the son of Mexican-American immigrants, became the third character to don the mantle of the Blue Beetle. His jump to the silver screen marks the first major superhero movie featuring a Latino lead.
Christopher T.J. McGuire, SOC, ACO, GBCT—A Camera and Steadicam operator on Blue Beetle—is no stranger to shooting on these kinds of blockbuster superhero films, having worked on films for DC, Marvel, and Sony. Camera Operator had the chance to chat with him about his work on the film and how its more intimate scale and focus on familial bonds made it distinct from the other comic book movies he’s worked on.
Fresh out of college, Jaime Reyes returns to his hometown to find that his family is facing the threat of eviction from his childhood home. On the hunt for work to save his family’s home, a chance meeting lands him a job interview at mega-corporation Kord Industries, where the young heir of the Kord fortune uses Jaime to unwittingly help steal an alien artifact from Kord’s experimental weapons division. This artifact, known as the Scarab, ends up bonding with Jaime, transforming him into the superhero Blue Beetle. Now, on the run from Kord’s army of mercenaries, Jaime has to wrestle with both his newfound power as well as his sense of responsibility to his family. Blue Beetle is directed by Angel Manuel Soto from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer and stars Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes alongside Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez.
Read the story here at SOC.org
David Daut 