The movie Latinos everywhere have been waiting for, where the whole movie is centered on Latin-American culture and people of Latin-American descent has finally arrived.
Many ethnic minority groups have gotten movies that aren’t just superhero movies dedicated to their cultural region.
Black Panther and Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings are two examples of superhero movies that cater to two major minority groups in the United States.
Latinos were yet to get a superhero movie to themselves but at last, the movie about a young Mexican boy, Blue Beetle, was released to theaters on Aug. 18, 2023.
There have been other Latino-based characters that have played big roles in superhero movies like Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ajak in the Eternals but none in a movie where a Latino is the lead hero with the supporting cast being Latin American as well.
The Latino market is a vast, enormous and rapidly growing market which makes it all the more surprising that Marvel or DC didn’t jump on this opportunity sooner.
According to Forbes, the Latino market space makes up $2.6 trillion, that number also grows larger and larger each year.
In general, Latinos are massively underrepresented in show business despite them being the largest demographic among all ethnicities in the United States besides white Americans to go to the theaters and purchase tickets.
In Latin-American culture often they are told to stick by one another so when anything Latino-based comes out, most of the time Latinos will flock to it and support it to support fellow Latinos.
Blue Beetle seems to be doing good, maybe not at the box office exactly but with critic scores and audience reviews the movie is doing great.
There are many reasons why at the box office it is faltering but currently sitting at 78% on the Tomatometer and 92% in audience reviews is pretty good, especially for a DC movie.
Things are moving in the right direction for Latino representation in Hollywood, first with Blue Beetle and now with Marvel announcing the casting of Bad Bunny to play “El Muerto” a Mexican villain in the upcoming standalone El Muerto movie in 2024.
Latino directors have also been having lots of success like directors Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón.
Many Latinos don’t care if it is through superhero movies or another genre of movie; they just want to see more people who look, talk and share the same culture as them on the big screens.
The audience is there and the money is most certainly there for more Latino representation, it’s just up to Hollywood now to step up to the plate.
