El Muerto is coming to the big screen. pop star and latin music icon, bad bunny (real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio) has been cast as El Muerto, the title character for the latest expansion to Sony’s Spider-Man universe, due in theaters in January 2024.
In recent years, Sony has tried to create its own universe, separate from the MCU’s famous characters. Start with poison 2018 its sequel Venom: Let there be carnage in 2021 and the recently released ones disease, Sony is busy creating a cast of characters to fight and possibly team up with their most valuable character, Spider-Man. With more films on the way including Kraven the Hunter and Mrs. Netzthe Sony Spider-Man universe is in full swing.
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While characters like Venom and Morbius may not have the star power of other Marvel characters, the casting does Tom Hardy and Jared Leto starring helped catapult her from famous comic book characters to big screen attractions. That’s what makes the announcement of the El Muerto movie so intriguing. This will be the first Marvel-based film to center around a Spanish-speaking hero, and casting the Latin music superstar via a veteran actor is a potential gamble for Sony films.
RELATED: Bad Bunny stars in Sony’s Marvel movie ‘El Muerto’
Who is El Muerto?
El Muerto is a minor Spider-Man character who first appeared in the 2006 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man comic book #6. His real name is Juan Carlos Estrada Sanchez and El Muerto means “the dead” – a family name that was passed down from father to son for several generations. However, it’s not just the name that’s passed on, it’s the power and super strength that emanates from the magic mask.
El Muerto comes from a long line of Latin American wrestlers known as Luchadors, who follow the Lucha Libra style of professional wrestling that has been an important part of Mexican popular culture for decades.
Image via Sony
Of violent origins
For a young Sanchez, his fate was predetermined. Trained from birth by his father until one day taking the mantle of El Muerto, he grew up in the art of combat. When it comes time for the younger Sanchez to finally assume his father’s mask, he encounters a mysterious figure named El Dorado, whom Juan must fight to prove he is worthy of the powerful mask.
However, he refuses to fight out of fear and his father is forced to defend him. This leads to the most traumatic incident of his life when his father’s head is ripped out of his body by El Dorado. Clutching his father’s mask, Juan is given a life-changing opportunity from El Dorado. The villain respects his father’s courage and gives Juan ten years to travel the world and find his courage. After those ten years are up, he must challenge and fight another masked enemy and unmask him (a significant insult in the world of Mexican wrestling). Otherwise, El Dorado will end Juan’s life.
El Muerto and Spider-Man
After saving J. Jonah Jameson and his son from a brutal home invasion, El Muerto teams with him to bring down Spider-Man. Jameson arranges for El Muerto to fight Spider-Man in a charity wrestling event. As the two fight back and forth, El Muerto overpowers him and attempts to finish him off by removing his mask and revealing Spider-Man’s identity as Peter Parker to the world.
As Parker tries to fight his way out of El Muerto’s clutches, his iron spider suit takes over and he accidentally stabs him with a paralyzing venom. This sends the Mexican anti-hero to the hospital, where he is picked up by El Dorado to claim the mask and his life there after ten years. Feeling overwhelming guilt, Spider-Man heads to the hospital, where he is confronted by El Dorado, who agrees to kill the still paralyzed El Muerto. Eventually, Spider-Man and El Muerto join forces to eliminate El Dorado as a threat, creating an uneasy alliance between the two former rivals.
Image via Marvel Comics
From comic to film
Sony’s decision to bring this relatively insignificant character to the big screen might seem odd given how narrow the story is. For this reason, however, the move makes sense. El Muerto doesn’t have a rich comic story that would be scrutinized and picked up by hardcore fans. He works almost like a blank canvas for Sony to tell a rich and interesting story centered on a Latino character.
Bad Bunny may not be a brilliant actor, but he brings a lifelong love of wrestling and physical experience to the world of sports-entertainment, having competed at WrestleMania in 2021. With larger themes that may need to be explored, such as the dynamics of the father-son relationship, the immigrant experience in America, and the historical importance of Lucha Libra wrestling in Mexican culture, El Muerto offers the Sony Spider-Verse a variety of Possibilities.
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About the author
Matthew Galea (3 published articles)
Matthew Galea is an editorial writer for Collider and a freelance writer.
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