‘Cobra Kai’ Star Xolo Maridueña Felt ‘a Lot of Nerves and Exhilaration’ About Playing DC’s ‘Blue Beetle’

variety.com:

Michaela Zee editor When Xolo Maridueña first stepped into the Blue Beetle suit, there were “a lot of nerves and exhilaration” that came with embodying the DC superhero. “Excited is not the first word that comes to my brain,” Maridueña told Variety at the Season 5 red carpet premiere of “Cobra Kai” on Wednesday night. “It is nervous excitement, it’s antsiness.

It’s the anticipation of knowing that you’re on the brink of something potentially big, but it still feels really intimate because you’re just with the cast and the crew.” The 21-year-old actor will be portraying the lead role of Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle in DC’s first adaptation of a comic led by a Latino superhero. “I can’t wait for people to see one of the — if not the first — Latino-led superhero movies ever,” he continued.

Last month, it was revealed that Warner Bros. had scrapped plans entirely to release “Batgirl.” The nearly completed DC Comics adaptation, which had a $90 million production budget, starred Afro-Latina actress Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl.

Asked about his reaction to “Batgirl” being shelved, Maridueña said, “I don’t know if I’m at liberty to speak about it. Leslie [Grace] said everything that needed to be said on the topic.