Bad Bunny is one of the planet’s most successful musicians; He was Spotify’s most-streamed artist worldwide in both 2020 and 2021. He’s also proven himself to be quite the multi-hyphenate by building up his IMDb page with roles in movies like F9 and Bullet Train. Now he’s preparing for his biggest acting opportunity yet: Yesterday, Sony announced El Muerto, a Spider-Man spinoff movie starring Bad Bunny as the titular character, IGN reports.
The movie was introduced by Sony Motion Picture Group president Sanford Panitch at CinemaCon and it’s set to be released in theaters on January 12, 2024. This role will make Bad Bunny Marvel’s first live-action Latino lead.
IGN describes the El Muerto character, “In the comics, El Muerto is a super-powered wrestler who has had their mask and abilities passed down through the generations. To become worthy, new wrestlers would need to prove themselves against El Dorado. Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez was one of these chosen descendants, but he was unable to fight El Dorado when his father Marcus Estrada presented him. As a result, Marcus sacrificed himself to save his son. Following the tragic death, El Dorado would give Juan-Carlos ten years to become stronger to face him again and earn the right to become El Muerto.”
Deadline notes of the character’s connection to Spider-Man, “The character of El Muerto, aka Juan Carlos, was a super powered wrestler who originally fought Spider-Man in a charity wrestling match in which he nearly unmasked the webslinger before being stung by Spider-Man with a paralyzing poison. After his oppressor El Dorado came to claim his life, he was saved by Spider-Man, after which the two team up to defeat Dorado.”
The role seems to be a perfect fit for Bad Bunny, given how involved he’s been with the WWE lately.