‘Cobra Kai’ to ‘Blue Beetle’: Xolo Maridueña on His Action-Hero Journey

Xolo Maridueña has been an action star since he was sixteen, when he debuted on the endlessly entertaining Cobra Kai as Miguel, a budding karate champ who gets Mr. Miyagi-ed by both Danny LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). But now, at age 22, he’s a full-blown superhero, starring in DC’s just-released Blue Beetle. Unlike June’s The Flash, already a notorious flop, Blue Beetle is a fresh start — DC Films co-chief James Gunn says the character is the first hero in his new DC universe, a full two years before its next entry, 2025’s Superman: Legacy. For Maridueña, whose family has Cuban, Mexican, and Ecuadorian roots, what really makes the film special is its Latin representation — his character, Jaime Reyes, is Mexican-American, and the director Angel Manuel Soto, and the screenwriter, Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, are both Latino.

Maridueña was supposed to have an even bigger 2023, with the debut of Blue Beetle set to be followed by the final season of Cobra Kai on Netflix, but the writers’ strike — and the actors’ strike that followed — has indefinitely delayed it. But he does have another major card up his sleeve —  his just-dropped first release as a rapper, “On My Way,” which you can hear below. In an interview conducted before the actors’ strike, Maridueña looks back at his time on Cobra Kai, reveals secrets of his superhero debut, and explains how his career got started.

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Had you started shooting the final season of Cobra Kai before the writers’ strike shut it down?
We actually did get the chance to shoot a few episodes, but it was cut short, obviously. We’re hoping as soon as the writers’ strike is over, we’ll be able to go back in and hit the drawing boards. But I think it’s actually for the best. The writers need their money and our writers are great.

And how was it so far? What was the vibe?
It definitely felt very final. And we’re so grateful to be able to end this season on our own accord. The fights are gonna be better than ever. And I just can’t wait to see it come full circle.

When you started this movie, you were part of one universe, the old DCEU that we last saw in The Flash. And now, according to James Gunn, it sounds like you’re the first movie that’s part of the new DC universe. What, if anything, was changed to make that work?
Honestly nothing. The point of Blue Beetle was to introduce the character of Jaime, and because of that, it felt really self-contained. There’s references to the superheroes and whatnot, but we’re not seeing any of them. So I think that, for better or for worse, [it] kept us in our own world. People are going to meet these characters for the first time, so we wanted to make sure that they had as much screen time as possible. So there really wasn’t anything to change when it came to integrating the universes. Our world feels like it has its own heartbeat, and I’m curious to see if it fits in [or] if it doesn’t, But I feel like we really have accomplished what we set out to do. So it’s up for the audience and everyone else to decide.

You’ve said that the Latin representation of this movie is really important to you. Was there ever a time when you felt you had to weigh in to keep things authentic?
Our director, Angel Manuel Soto, and the writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, kept things so real and so authentic from day one. I feel like when you have people behind the camera who are representative of the people that they’re trying to encapsulate in front of the camera, you can’t help but feel authentic.

Had playing a superhero even crossed your mind before you were approached with this?
I suppose everyone kind of fantasizes about being a superhero, but there’s no way I could have ever considered that it would actually happen. I was very fortunate that Angel trusted me even before I trusted myself. But yes, there were always dreams to play superheroes, on both the DC and the Marvel side. but even after booking the project, it didn’t feel real. I just got a chance to see the movie a few weeks ago, and I think sitting down in the theater, seeing the Warner Brothers logo and the DC logo kind of pop up in front of the screen, that’s when I was like, holy crap, this is larger than myself.

What kind of interaction have you had with James Gunn so far?
It’s been pretty minimal. I understand that he’s deep in the trenches in his own work. He’s definitely been around during the creative process of the post-production because that’s when he and [co-chief] Peter [Safran] really started. James really seems to understand the power of having a director have his own signature on a movie.

Cobra Kai is, on some level, a karate soap opera, and there’s so many wild twists in it. What was most shocking when you got the scripts? Miguel getting temporarily paralyzed comes to mind.
Yeah, definitely getting paralyzed was shocking. But I learned that our creators have their minds made up and that you have to trust the writers. And that’s why we need them so desperately right now during the writers’ strike. But the part that really has surprised me the most is the relationship with Johnny Lawrence. I’ve always appreciated the sort of found-father relationship. The most rewarding and the most fun thing is every time to get to kick it with my fake pops.

Do you have a good William Zabka story?
They have him saying the most gruesome stuff, and the guy is the biggest lovable teddy bear. They yell cut, and he’s so apologetic for calling kids fat and ugly. [Laughs] But it feels like the writers just have the best time giving him the most crazy stuff to say to kids.

Do you have a wishlist for Miguel’s ending?
I suppose just for the character to be happy at the end. So much of these young kids’ journeys have been in search of a sense of belonging, and that’s something that, as a teenager, I definitely related to and understood.

You started acting at age nine. How did you get into it so early?
It started really as a means to pay for college. My mom had a friend who was a commercial agent in print [modeling] and I had an eagerness to be in front of the camera, but definitely had no idea what it entailed. And it ended up going really well, thankfully, and slowly the snowball kind of rolled. And I was blessed with parents who were really supportive and who took sacrifices to learn the ins and outs of the business to make sure that I was covered. I think the biggest thing has just been my own family helping, keeping me grounded, and helping navigate this world that there’s no how-to book for dummies for.

Who were your acting heroes as a kid?
I think my youngest hero was probably Will Smith. By the time I was five, I had seen Men in Black probably 10,000 times. So, seeing a person of color as the hero was super empowering. When I was growing up, there weren’t many young brown kids on television. Honestly, my mom had me in the library more than in front of the TV. But at first glance, Will Smith was really the person who made me excited about watching movies.

And how about now?
I really love what Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal have been able to do. And Oscar Isaac. There’s so many Latinos who I stand on the shoulders of. Outside of my fellow brownies, I like Robert Pattinson. I love the choices he’s made with his career.

You’ve said that in the initial chemistry reads for Blue Beetle, you were staying too close to Miguel, and then you actually got some coaching to break off of that. What did you learn in that process?
This was really my first time building a character outside of Miguel from the ground up. A lot of what came at the beginning of Cobra Kai was just myself, to be honest. I didn’t really know how to act a ton. The decisions that I made felt very instinctual and impulsive, and I ran with that for the first couple of years. This time, I had a team of coaches and mentors around me to help build up a new character, and we did it. It definitely built my confidence over the months.

What was the key?
I realized the reason Angel had hired me was because of the way that he saw me around my family, and that’s the way that Jaime is around his own family, in his sense of protection and love and admiration for those around him. And I think that was the beacon.

Does some part of you wanna keep doing karate just for fun?
I will say I definitely am gonna keep stretching, just on the off chance that we get to bring the gis out again. I just hope that 30 years down the line, we’ll get to pick up the gi again and do a whole other revival.

Did you ever catch yourself going into a karate stance as Blue Beetle?
There were definitely a lot of new nuances that I was learning, getting to do stunts as Blue Beetle, a lot of new gizmos and gadgets that I was able to tinker around with. So it did feel like a new experience. There are a few moments where we have what could be a nod to Cobra Kai, but we’ll save that for release day.

Production Credits

Produced by JOE RODRIGUEZ. Styling by MADELEINE KENNEDY for THE ONLY AGENCY. Jacket by RED SEPTEMBER. Sweatshirt by ACNE STUDIOS. Jewelry by MARTYRE.

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