Sony Pictures’ newest Marvel-based picture, El Muerto, is still in pre-production but is expected to be a massive box office triumph. Grammy-winning musician Bad Bunny (Benito A. Martnez Ocasio) is attached to star in the film, and The Wrap reports that Mexican filmmaker Jonás Cuarón (Desierto) will helm. Sony’s newest action-packed episode is being written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, who previously scripted the critically acclaimed Blue Beetle. Martnez Ocasio’s portrayal of El Muerto, a comic book antihero, in the upcoming film El Muerto will make him the first Latino character to play the title role of a Marvel film.
El Muerto, Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez’s secret identity in the original Marvel Comics, is a luchador whose superpowers have been passed down through the family for generations. Only by fighting and destroying El Dorado, who has oppressed their family for generations, can they hope to get these superhuman abilities. A young Juan-Carlos has a terrible accident and is granted ten years to redeem himself and regain his rightful place as heir. He faces up against our friendly neighbourhood hero, Spider-Man, near the end of his voyage of self-discovery, which may or may not have ties to Jon Watts’ Spider-Man trilogy. Sony is currently producing a number of Marvel-related film series, and Alfonso Cuarón’s El Muerto will be the next addition to this expanding web of interconnected stories.
The Tom Hardy starring Venom films, J.C. Chandor’s Kraven the Hunter starring Aaron Taylor Johnson as Spider-archenemy, Man’s and Madame Web starring Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney are also part of the bargained-for package. Martinez Ocasio, better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and actor. The actor’s recent role as a villain in Sony’s Bullet Train, alongside Brad Pitt, was his first of its kind; his other significant roles include F9: The Fast Saga, Narcos: Mexico, and a role in the upcoming film American Sole, costarring Camila Mendes (Do Revenge). Cuarón’s first film as director was the love drama Ao ua, which he also wrote and produced in 2007. In 2013, he co-wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award-winning picture Gravity with his father, the legendary filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón.
After directing a pair of shorts, Cuarón co-wrote and oversaw production on his 2015 thriller Desierto, which starred Gael Garca Bernal (Werewolf by Night) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead). The release date for El Muerto in theatres is slated for January 12th, 2024.