A couple of weeks ago it was announced that Bad Bunny was set to star in a new Sony Marvel movie, El Muerto, who is another character set in the Spider-Man universe. This is a project that the Sony team is very excited about as they are marketing it as the first big Marvel movie to feature a Latino superhero.
In a recent interview with New Music Daily Radio with Zane Lowe, Bad Bunny a.k.a. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio hyped the film and said it’s going to be huge and epic. He said:
“It’s crazy. It’s something that I can’t believe it yet. I’m very happy about this character, about this opportunity to be the first Latin [lead]. It’s not about I’m gonna be the first Latino making a role, it’s gonna be about the first Latino main character, is the important thing. So it’s something huge, and it will be epic. I know that people are gonna be proud of my work.”
El Muerto was first Introduced in 2006’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6, his real name is Juan-Carlos Sanchez and he’s a Mexican luchador who wears a magical mask and he’s destined to face off with the mystical wrestling god El Dorado. “The powers and mask of the super powered wrestler el Muerto have been passed down generation to generation. Each wrestler had to prove themselves to their oppressor, el Dorado, so that they could remain alive and keep their powers. When Marcus Estrada presented his son Juan Carlos to el Dorado, Juan Carlos cowered in terror, unwilling to fight him. Marcus Estrada sacrificed his life to try and save Juan Carlos. Out of respect for his father’s courage, el Dorado granted Juan Carlos ten years to travel and to become brave, and then to duel a masked wrestler and unmask him.”
The thing is, Sony has had such a hard time navigating their Marvel films on their own with main characters. It’ll be interesting to see if they will actually make a good film for this character that not many people have ever even heard of and get audiences to go see it that are beyond Bad Bunny’s built-in fan base.
El Muerto hits the mat on January 12, 2024.