Did You Catch All These ‘Blue Beetle’ Easter Eggs?
Blue Beetle is a fun, incisive superhero film with a straightforward, simple story that still manages to delve into some complex issues. It also manages to squeeze in a bunch of references that fans—and Latine fans in particular—will definitely appreciate. Ahead, we’re breaking down all of our favorite Easter eggs and references from Blue Beetle.
SPOILERS ahead for Blue Beetle. If you want to experience these references fresh, go see the movie. Then come back here to see if you caught them all!
María la del Barrio
When the Reyes family first hear about the budding romance between Jaime and Jenny Kord, they lovingly tease him by comparing him to a classic 1990s telenovela character.
María la del Barrio (María From the Neighborhood, in English) tells the story of María Hernández (Thalía), a poor, uneducated 15-year-old girl in Mexico City who lives with her godmother and makes money by picking recyclable material out of a landfill. On her deathbed, María’s godmother asks the local priest to find her a good home and he places María with Fernando De la Vega, one of the wealthiest businessmen in the country. Fernando takes her in, treating her like part of the family. The rest of the family, not so much. His wife, Victoria, looks down on her. His son, Luis Fernando (Fernando Colunga), starts flirting with her as a joke before actually falling for her. Then there’s the infamous Soraya Montenegro (Itatí Cantoral), Victoria’s niece who’s in love with Luis Fernando and hates María with the passion of a thousand memes:
![The [Cries in Spanish] meme featuring Itatí Cantoral as Soraya Montenegro in a scene from the telenovela 'Maria la del Barrio.'](https://www.themarysue.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Itati-Cantoral-Soraya-Montenegro-Maria-la-del-Barrio-cries-in-Spanish-meme.jpg?resize=1036%2C781)
The fact that members of the Reyes family, independently of each other, instantly thought of María la del Barrio‘s central inter-class romance when looking for a comparison for Jaime’s relationship with Jenny shows just how popular this telenovela was and how much a part of Latine pop culture it remains. It’s also hilarious that Jenny is the rich man and Jaime is the poor “marginal.” One thing’s for sure: the María la del Barrio theme still slaps.
There’s a bonus novela reference when Milagro briefly wonders if Jaime is more María Mercedes than María la del Barrio. María Mercedes is an earlier telenovela starring Thalía where she also plays a girl who falls for a rich dude, but the story’s weirder, and the theme song doesn’t slap nearly as hard. It’s the first of a “Marías trilogy,” followed by Marimar and then María la del Barrio.
You can watch these and countless other classic telenovelas on Vix (or YouTube if you need English subtitles).
Vicks VapoRub
Many cultures seem to have a product that families use as a cure-all. In My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nia Vardalos poked fun at her father’s love of Windex. Chris Rock has a whole bit about Black people’s relationship with Robitussin (a.k.a. ‘Tussin). And for Latines everywhere, there’s only one salve their families give them no matter what’s wrong: Vicks VapoRub (a.k.a. Vivapurru).
So, when Jaime Reyes is passed out in a scene in Blue Beetle, and his grandmother revives him by holding a jar of Vicks VapoRub under his nose, every Latine in the audience will laugh. It’s a three-second scene, but there’s so much nostalgia and cultural information packed into it.
KCRW has an awesome, seven-minute interview with Esmeralda Bermudez of the Los Angeles Times on why Vicks VapoRub is such a thing with Latine families. Long story short: Mexico was one of the first countries where Vicks VapoRub was marketed (as was India and the Philippines, two other cultures where Vicks has a similar cultural resonance!). “Proustian” memory, or involuntary memory, also has something to do with it. That’s where certain tastes, or smells, cause an immediate connection to memory, usually from childhood. The nostalgia sparked for Latines by the smell of Vivapurru is so real.
El Chapulín Colorado
In Blue Beetle, Uncle Rudy creates a device to take down the security system at Kord Industries from the outside. He calls it El Chapulín. It doesn’t work at first, but when he gives it a little kick, it springs into action. This is a reference to the popular 1970s Mexican comedy series, El Chapulín Colorado (The Red Grasshopper, in English)
Created by and starring Roberto Gómez Bolaños (stage name: Chespirito), the series spoofed superheroes by centering around El Chapulín Colorado, a hero who does a lot of bragging about how great a hero he is only to fumble over and over, disappointing his fans. Despite that, he always comes through in the end, much like Uncle Rudy’s device!
Latines of a certain age (or with parents of a certain age) will recognize the name “El Chapulín” immediately, as Gen-Xers may have watched the show when it was on, and Elder Millennials may have been treated to reruns in their youth. Sadly, the original show isn’t available to stream, but you can get “best of” compilations on DVD (or watch episodes on YouTube), or watch the more recent Spanish-language animated series, 2015’s El Chapulín Colorado.
Sábado Gigante
As Nana is flipping channels on her television, a familiar clip briefly pops up. It’s a scene from the long-running hit Spanish-language variety show Sábado Gigante (Giant Saturday in English). The brief clip features the show’s legendary Chilean host Don Francisco (real name: Mario Kreutzberger Blumenfeld) and the character “El Chacal de la Trompeta” (The Jackal of the Trumpet), who was basically what Sandman Sims was to Amateur Night at The Apollo. During Sábado Gigante‘s singing competitions, El Chacal would dramatically play his trumpet when contestants were terrible, letting them know it was time to go.
Sábado Gigante was on for over 53 years beginning in 1962, without airing any repeats in its original run, and had everything from music to comedy to journalism segments to … beauty pageants for little girls that weren’t at all creepy, featuring child co-hosts who also weren’t at all creepy. The show entertained multiple generations of Latines around the world, so it makes sense that Blue Beetle wouldn’t have been complete without giving us at least a passing glimpse of it.
What other Latine, pop culture, or comics-related Easter eggs did you catch in Blue Beetle? Tell us what you spotted in the comments below!
(featured image: Warner Bros. Pictures)
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