After largely centering white heroes for years, superhero films have recently made a welcome shift towards more meaningful diversity, with projects like Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Ms. Marvel” spotlighting the specific stories of heroes of color. DC, meanwhile, is still picking up the pieces after a tumultuous year, so it’s tough to say for certain which of its heroes will be the face of the franchise moving forward, but Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman have both played powerful men of color in the DCU in recent years.
Still, DC films have so far often aimed for an epic tone that doesn’t leave much room for moments of sincere or even casual cultural representation, like Ned’s hilarious Tagalog conversation in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” or Echo’s (Alaqua Cox) conversation with her father (Zahn McClarnon) in “Hawkeye.” Based on Guillén’s enthusiastic comments about the cultural details of “Blue Beetle,” it sounds like “Blue Beetle” might be poised to change that. “It’s going to make everyone who is Latino feel included,” the actor says. “And it’s also going to, if you’re not Latino, it’s going to make you feel introduced and welcomed.”