Susan Sarandon has reportedly signed on to play villain Victoria Kord in DC’s Blue Beetle movie, The Wrap reports. As recently as late March, Sharon Stone was previously in talks for the role.
Victoria Kord shares a surname with DC Comics character Ted Kord, who played the second Blue Beetle after Dan Garret, though any relation between the two is unknown at this time. Sarandon joins a cast that includes George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Elpidia Carrillo, Damián Alcázar, Belissa Escobedo, Bruna Marquezine, and Harvey Guillén. Additionally, Raoul Max Trujillo (Mayans) will play Carapax the Indestructible Man.
Blue Beetle stars Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña as the third Blue Beetle, teenager Jamie Reyes, who finds alien armor and uses it to take on the Blue Beetle name. The film is being directed by Angel Manuel Soto, with Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer writing. Harvey Guillen (What We Do In The Shadows) is also reportedly in talks to take on an unknown role in the film.
This major casting announcement also comes as major changes are expected for DC Entertainment. A few days ago, Discovery closed a $43 billion deal for WarnerMedia and also revealed there are intentions to develop more projects with characters outside the most popular members of the Justice League, pointing to Todd Phillips’ Joker film and the Harley Quinn vehicle Birds of Prey. A number of projects are currently in various stages of production, including the Ezra Miller Flash film (which is now reportedly up in the air thanks to the actor’s recent behavior), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Wonder Woman 3, Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and the Blue Beetle film, which would be the first comic book movie centered on a Latino superhero.