While some had thought Sony Pictures might pump the brakes on its Spider-adjacent cinematic universe following the commercial underperformance of Morbius, it appears that the opposite is true.
At CinemaCon 2022, the studio announced yet another addition to its upcoming slate of in-house Marvel projects, but no one could have predicted the character they would settle on launching next.
El Muerto is deep cut even for the most seasoned of Marvel readers, with only a handful of comic book appearances to his name and no stories of any major consequence.
Yet Sony feels he’s a prime candidate for the big screen treatment, hiring its Bullet Train star Bad Bunny for the gig, having been impressed with his work in the upcoming Netflix thriller.
Read on for everything you need to know about El Muerto.
El Muerto release date
El Muerto is scheduled for release exclusively in cinemas on Friday 12th January 2024.
It appears as if Sony Pictures could be aiming to release two Marvel-associated movies per year starting from 2023, which looks set to see the launch of both Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web.
Don’t be surprised if the studio announces another entry in its franchise for later in 2024.
Who is El Muerto in Marvel Comics?
For those who don’t know – which let’s be clear, is everyone – El Muerto is a wrestler by the name of Juan-Carlos Estrada Sánchez, whose magical mask grants him superhuman strength.
The mantle of El Muerto is passed down through generations in his family, with Juan-Carlos’ reluctance to take on the responsibility being a factor in getting his own father killed. Sound familiar?
He first crossed paths with Spider-Man when he vowed to unmask the wall-crawler as part of a ritual to earn his mask, but needless to say, the webhead came out on top.
The two of them actually left things on good terms, after Spidey helped El Muerto vanquish his nemesis El Dorado, whose golden armour had proven insurmountable in their previous clashes.
Who is in the El Muerto cast?
The only confirmed cast member for El Muerto is rapper and singer Bad Bunny, who is a logical choice in the sense that he’s a vocal fan of professional wrestling and has even competed in WWE before.
The casting of Bad Bunny (also known by his real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) has been praised as a landmark moment, as he is the first Latino actor to play the lead role in a Marvel film.
El Muerto will be set in the same universe as Sony’s other Marvel projects – Venom and Morbius – so it’s not out of the question that Tom Hardy, Michael Keaton or Jared Leto could cameo.
At the time of writing, there’s no word on a writer or director for El Muerto, but expect these details to be announced soon.
Is there an El Muerto trailer?
Not yet. Given how far the film is from release, we wouldn’t expect to see footage from El Muerto for at least a year – or perhaps even longer!
El Muerto is scheduled for cinema release in 2024. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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