Naman Shrestha
Based on the eponymous DC Comics character, ‘Blue Beetle’ is a superhero action movie helmed by Ángel Manuel Soto that follows Jaime Reyes, a recent college graduate who returns to his hometown brimming with hopes and aspirations for his future only to get disappointed as things have changed since the last time he was home. Just when things start looking down for him, he comes across a mysterious and ancient relic of alien biotechnology, known as the Scarab.
Sooner rather than later, the Scarab chooses Jaime to be its rightful symbiotic host, which grants him an incredible suit of armor as well as some extraordinary and unpredictable superpowers. Having no choice other than becoming a superhero, his destiny changes as he turns into the titular superhero. The action-adventure film unfolds mainly in the fictional town of Palmera City, which is the hometown of Jaime and where most of the action takes place. If you are interested in knowing which locations doubled as the fictional town and where ‘Blue Beetle’ was filmed, we have got you covered!
Blue Beetle Filming Locations
‘Blue Beetle’ was filmed in Georgia, Texas, California, and Puerto Rico, especially in Metro Atlanta, El Paso, Los Angeles, and San Juan. As per reports, principal photography for the superhero film commenced in late May 2022 under the working title ‘Mofongo’ and wrapped up in less than two months, in July of the same year. The production team gathered again in February 2023 for a couple of days to do some additional photography for the film. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s focus on learning about the specific locations that feature in the action movie in detail!
Metro Atlanta, Georgia
Several pivotal portions of ‘Blue Beetle’ were taped in Metro Atlanta AKA the Atlanta metropolitan area, which includes the city of Atlanta and its surrounding cities. Just like most of the superhero movies, it was taped partially on set and partially on location. When it comes to the set parts, they were done at Wilder Studios, which is situated at 2500 Lantrac Court in the city of Decatur. The city of Dunwoody is yet another filming site that makes an appearance in a few scenes of the action film.
El Paso, Texas
Also known as the Sun City, El Paso served as one of the primary production locations for ‘Blue Beetle’ as the production team utilized the charming houses of the city for shooting several key scenes. You are bound to spot a number of local landmarks and notice the Mexican influence on the architecture of El Paso that feature in the backdrop, including the Ysleta Mission, the WestStar Tower, Hotel Paso del Norte Tower, the El Paso Museum of Art, and Cathedral of Saint Patrick.
Los Angeles, California
Reportedly, a few portions of ‘Blue Beetle’ were also taped in and around Los Angeles. Given the city’s links to the Hollywood industry, it comes as no surprise that the filming unit set up camp in LA for a while. Other than ‘Blue Beetle,’ its locales have been featured in multiple film projects, such as ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,’ ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ and ‘Secret Invasion.’
San Juan, Puerto Rico
In the later stages of the production, the filming unit of ‘Blue Beetle’ even traveled to San Juan, the capital city of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In particular, the Santurce district or barrio served as a prominent filming site for the superhero action film. Furthermore, a number of action scenes were also recorded on location in Castillo San Felipe del Morro at 501 Calle Norzagaray in San Juan. In an August 2023 interview with Shondaland, director Ángel Manuel Soto expressed his delight and pleasure in shooting a big production in Puerto Rico, where he was born and raised.
During the same conversation, Soto even talked about what it was like recording in the fortress that is Castillo San Felipe del Morro. He stated, “…It fulfilled dreams that I had as a kid because I always wanted to film in one of the fortresses. Being able to shoot there was surreal. The action sequences we shot there were very special to me. Along with El Paso and Miami, it felt very humbling to be able to see the island where I was raised as an inspiration for this fictional new city within the DC universe.”
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