Susan Sarandon sees her Blue Beetle villain as the embodiment of imperialism

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon had never been asked to appear in a superhero movie prior to DC's Blue Beetle, which may seem strange since even the lovable curmudgeon that is Harrison Ford is involved with the Marvel Cinematic Universe these days. Sarandon points out that she appeared in 2008's Speed Racer, which was based on a comic book but still not a superhero story.

"I would've probably taken it," she tells EW in an interview (conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike) if she had received a prior offer from Marvel or DC. So, when the actress of Dead Man Walking and Thelma & Louise got a call from director Angel Manuel Soto to play a part in Blue Beetle, in theaters this Aug. 18, she was already open to the opportunity. "I just was so impressed by his passion," she recalls. "He has this art background, so he was this nerdy fan of superheroes."

Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) stars in Blue Beetle as Jaime Reyes, a college grad who returns home to Palmera City and finds his family in dire economic straits. Damían Alcázar (Narcos) plays Jaime's father; Elpidia Carrillo (Mayans M.C.) plays his mother; Belissa Escobedo (Hocus Pocus 2) plays his sister, Milagro; Adriana Barraza (Rambo: Last Blood) plays his grandmother, Nana; and comedian George Lopez plays his Uncle Rudy. His job search leads him to Kord Industries, run by Sarandon's Victoria Kord, and the Scarab, an alien artifact that bonds with Jaime and transforms him into the armor-clad hero known as Blue Beetle.

It was clear to Sarandon that Victoria Kord represents "the theme of imperialism in the name of democracy." She says, "My character's really the one who's driving that charade in order to get wealth and uranium and what other natural resources, under the guise of making the world safe for democracy. That rang a bell. All of those themes I thought would really be fun to dabble in."

Always flanked by her muscle, Carapax (Sicario's Raoul Max Trujillo), and her science guy, Dr. Sanchez (What We Do in the Shadows' Harvey Guillén), Victoria covets the otherworldly Scarab. She maniacally muses in the film, "We are going to change the world" with its power.

Victoria is a new character created for the movie, but she did begin to appear in DC comics in the past year, beginning with Blue Beetle Graduation Day. She's depicted on the page as the older sister of Ted Kord, who formerly held the moniker of Blue Beetle in DC lore. In the film, Bruna Marquezine (Maldivas) plays Victoria's niece, Jenny Kord, who gives the Scarab to Jaime.

"She's a woman who is very smart and was dedicated to the family business, and then the father gives it to the son, which is a huge shock," Sarandon explains of Victoria. "On top of that, the son is very irresponsible and basically destroys the fortune that has been built, and then just disappears, leaving her to put the business to sleep. Then she builds it back, but with great resentment because she's been passed over."

Sarandon believes it's always more fun to play the villain than the hero, but she understood Victoria's need to be ambitious and prove herself. "Here she is, the only one who really made [the family business] her life," the actress continues. "She has no family, she has no friends. She's not interested in anything but Kord Industries. She doesn't shop, she doesn't hang out with her girlfriends. She doesn't have a lover; if she does, it's nobody important. So, everything has gone towards the building of power."

When it came to her costume, Sarandon felt it was important that Victoria had something that felt more like a uniform over anything sartorially trendy. What costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo came up with based on those conversations was "something that is rather masculine but at the same time very strong," Sarandon says. "It doesn't look like Donna Karan. It's not something out of Vogue."

The film's other big selling point for Sarandon was the rest of the cast, which predominantly consists of Latinx actors. Parts of the movie are even performed in Spanish. "It means a lot to have that representation," she says. "You really felt that people were there understanding that this was a chance to do something that hadn't happened before, which was this Latino superhero having his own movie," she adds. "We didn't have anyone who came late or was in it for the money."

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