Bad Bunny may be one of the biggest musical acts in the world so naturally his next move is to venture out into another realm entirely. The wrestling aficionado will play El Muerto, in what Sony Pictures is billing as the first Latino character to lead a Marvel live-action film.
There have been other live-action Latinx characters before El Muerto, of course, including Salma Hayek‘s Ajak in Eternals and Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez punching her way into the Multiverse of Madness, but El Muerto will actually get his own standalone movie. But because this is Sony, we can’t consider El Muerto as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Daniel Knighton/Getty; Marvel Comics Bad Bunny will play Marvel’s El Muerto.
Juan Carlos Estrada Sanchez, alias El Muerto, is a hero in the Spider-verse, a super powered wrestler whose powers (super strength and endurance) and mask were passed down from generation to generation.
“It’s amazing. it’s incredible. I love wrestling. I grew up watching it and now I’m a wrestler,” Bad Bunny said of playing El Muerto during a surprise appearance at the Sony presentation during CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Monday night. “This is why I love this character. I think its the perfect role to me, it will be epic.”
According to Marvel‘s description of the character: “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.”
Spider-Man ended up fighting El Muerto, in a match organized by J. Jonah Jameson as a ploy to unmask the web-slinger, though the two eventually joined forces to fight El Dorado.
While Bad Bunny is no seasoned thespian, he has had a recurring role on Narcos: Mexico and the upcoming film, Bullet Train, though he perhaps has more experience in the ring, wrestling in the WWE’s Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania last year.
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