Imagine how you might react if you heard you were going to become a cinematic superhero. We’ve seen how Sasha Calle handled the news when she was cast as Supergirl two years ago. Like Calle, the tears flowed for Xolo Maridueña when he found out he was going to star as the title character in Blue Beetle. On Friday (August 11), Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto shared a video of the moment he told Maridueña he landed the coveted role.

The video starts with Maridueña standing in front of the director with his hands in his pockets. Soto asks him, “So, you wanna be Jaime or not?” – a reference to the teenage character that inhabits the Blue Beetle suit, Jaime Reyes.

“Yes. Yeah absolutely,” Maridueña says with a big smile. Soto replies with, “Welcome, Jaime” and the two embrace. Soto adds: “You ARE the Blue Beetle.”

The video then cuts to Maridueña and Soto talking to Maridueña’s mom on a video call. “You’ve got a very special son,” Soto tells her. “We are very proud of him, and we trust that he’s going to be able to represent this superhero in a way that will make us all proud.”

At this point, Maridueña is holding back tears as his mom tells Soto that when her son was a little boy, they would read Blue Beetle comics to him. To us, this sounds like a perfect, serendipitous casting decision, and we can’t wait to see what Xolo Maridueña does as DC’s first Latine superhero with his own movie.

Blue Beetle premieres nationwide at theaters on August 18, 2023.