Upcoming Marvel Movie No Longer Has Release Date as Fans Predict Inevitable $2.3B Franchise Downfall
El Muerto, the upcoming Marvel film that had been scheduled for release and had a spot on Sony Pictures’ release calendar, no longer has a release date. The movie was slated to be released on January 12, 2024, with rapper Bad Bunny playing the lead role.
In addition to removing El Muerto from the release schedule as part of the announcement, Sony Pictures also changed the release dates for Dumb Money, which will now be released on September 22 rather than October 20, and The Book of Clarence, a biblical epic starring LaKeith Stanfield, which replaced El Muerto after moving from September 22 to the middle of January.
Bad Bunny starrer El Muerto to be the first Latino-led Marvel project
After it was announced that Sony Pictures is looking forward to developing a Spider-Man spinoff, El Muerto, starring Bad Bunny in the lead role of El Muerto aka Juan Carlos, the fans seemed excited to witness the first Latino-led Marvel project.
Jonas Cuarón is directing the movie with Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer writing the script about the character who is an anti-hero and the son of a luchador next in line to inherit the ancestral power of El Muerto.
After the movie was taken off the release calendar, people have had questions about the future of the movie and, according to reports, the movie remains in development, but between the rapper’s tour schedule and the ongoing WGA strike, it makes finalizing a date complicated. The filming of the movie is yet to begin.
Marvel fans react to El Muerto being taken off the release calendar list
After it was announced that the movie had been taken off the release calendar, fans took to their social media to share their thoughts on the same. A user mentioned that they are not surprised that the movie no longer has a release date and some said that it’s great news because no one wanted the movie to happen in the first place.
I think they're thinking about not making this movie because they thought the El Muerto character would be seen as a joke and would look bad in a Sony universe if the Kraven character is cool and then they add Spider-Man
— Anderson (@Anderson9ZS7) June 21, 2023
A user added, “I think they’re thinking about not making this movie because they thought the El Muerto character would be seen as a joke and would look bad in a Sony universe if the Kraven character is cool and then they added Spider-Man.” Some of the users mentioned that the franchise should focus on better characters rather than making movies about character people won’t care much about.
Bad Bunny however, appeared at the CinemaCon in 2022 where he seemed really excited to play the lead character and said, “To bring El Muerto to life is just incredible… so exciting.” He also added in another interview, “It’s not about ‘I’m gonna be the first Latino making a role,’ it’s gonna be about the first Latino main character, that’s the important thing. So it’s something huge, and it will be epic. I know that the people are gonna be proud of my work.”
What do we know about Marvel’s El Muerto?
El Muerto, one of the least well-known minor Marvel characters, made his comic book debut in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 in 2006. He is a member of a long line of Latino professional wrestlers known as Luchadors who compete in the Lucha libra style of wrestling, which has long been a significant component of Mexican popular culture.
El Muerto, a family name that has been passed down from father to son over several generations, is the character’s real name, Juan Carlos Estrada Sanchez. But the power and super strength that come from the magical mask are also passed down, not just the name.
The mythology is based on the mythical mask of El Muerto, given to a family (the Estradas) by the wrestling god El Dorado, which bestowed superhuman strength and endurance on a fighter from each generation of the family in exchange for a fight against El Dorado in order to keep the mask.
The wrestling god gave Juan-Carlos the mask out of respect for his father, who gave his life to save Juan-Carlos when he faltered out of fear on the day of the battle with El Dorado. Now, Juan has only ten years to prepare and the duty of taking on and exposing a rival masked champion (Spider-Man).
Sony, the company in charge of Spider-Man movie rights, has already released two Venom movies, Morbius, and just debuted the first trailer for Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter with October 6th, 2023 as the release date. Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, is also listed for February 16, 2024 release.
Source: Deadline
