Sony's Spider-Man Connected Universe continues with yet another Spider-Man villain movie. This time, Sony has announced that El Muerto is the next webhead nemesis to get his own movie. Joining the likes of Venom, Morbius, Kraven and Madame Web, this will be the next Spider-Man-themed movie to not feature the beloved wallcrawler.
Why is Sony making an El Muerto movie?
Slated for a January 12, 2024 release, the upcoming El Muerto movie will star famous rapper, sometimes actor, and WrestleMania performer Bad Bunny. Sony is billing the movie as the introduction of “Marvel’s first live-action Latin superhero”, once again hinting your the Spidey villain is no longer a villain.
Like Morbius and Madame Web before it, fans are wondering why El Muerto, of all characters, is getting a movie. While the Latin representation is nice, we doubt many Marvel fans were clamoring to see this super-powered luchador on the big screen. Only time will tell if we’re wrong but it feels like Sony is scraping the bottom of the barrel for movie characters.
Obviously, all of this is leading up to some form of a Sinister Six movie. Judging by the post-credits scene in Morbius — yes, we watched Morbius — Sony is definitely gearing up for its villains to fight Spider-Man. Will this happen before or after it's Venom vs Spider-Man movie?
Read More: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse features over 230 characters across six universes
Who is El Muerto?
For those unaware - so most of you - El Muerto is Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, who has his mask and powers passed down to him from previous owners of the mantle from his family tree. After El Dorado killed his father during the rite of passage for the El Muerto name, Juan-Carlos decides to train for 10 years to become stronger, earn the mantle, and get revenge. He also meets Spider-Man and that’s how this movie was born.
Because he was created for a Spider-Man comic that gives Sony the right to make a film out of him, whether we like it or not. It also doesn’t help that his story, while decent for a minor comic book villain, is fairly cliché and has been seen in various revenge movies minus the wrestling.
The Sony-Verse continues
The El Muerto movie was announced alongside Venom 3 and a Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel, so it seems that Sony has high hopes for their latest Spider-Man spin-off. El Muerto joins Venom, Morbius, Madame Webb, and Kraven the Hunter in Sony’s attempt to make their own cinematic universe with Spider-Man supporting characters.
Considering the cold reception Morbius has received, our hopes aren’t high for El Muerto. While the casting of Bad Bunny is on point, given his standout performance in WrestleMania 37, we’ll leave the superhero movies to Marvel Studios.
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