Moviegoers haven’t exactly been fond of watching living vampires. However, in 2022, Sony announced it was expanding its Peter Parker-free live-action Spider-Verse. The studio was getting back into the ring with another Spider-Man baddie. Bad Bunny was cast as the super-powered Marvel wrestler El Muerto in this Sony solo antihero film. However, according to Variety, El Muerto has now been removed from Sony’s release schedule.
The film had an initial release date of January 12, 2024, but now its release date is unknown. We’re crossing our fingers that it gets a new one sooner rather than later. When it does release, El Muerto will mark the first time a Latino actor will lead a Marvel film.
As to what we do know about El Muerto, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, most commonly known by his stage name Bad Bunny, will play the title character of this Marvel movie. Additionally, Jonás Cuarón, the son of Alfonso Cuarón, will direct the movie. And, according to The Wrap, Blue Beatle writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer is writing El Muerto‘s script.
El Muerto, whose real name is Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, is not an especially famous Spider-Man comic book character. He made his debut in 2006’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6. Yet he’s only made two appearances in the comics’ main Earth-616 timeline. But we can’t wait to see how Sony will bring the character to life.
Sony seemingly couldn’t have made a better choice for the role than Bad Bunny (Bullet Train). The performer’s own interests intersect perfectly with El Muerto’s story. El Muerto is a title and set of powers the character inherits from his family via a wrestling mask. He even faced off with Spider-Man in the squared circle. (El Muerto is way tougher than Bonesaw McGraw.) Sony says Sanchez will be on the verge of getting those powers in the film. And Bad Bunny doesn’t need much training for the part. He’s worked with the WWE previously. And he gave what many consider the greatest celebrity wrestling performance in company history.
And if you can earn the respect of wrestling fans, turning a minor comic book character into a star shouldn’t be that hard. Maybe just don’t wrestle any living vampires.
Although we don’t know when exactly El Muerto will release, we’ll be keeping our eyes open for new developments.
Originally published on April 26, 2022.
