The Venom movies have their fans and Morbius has taken on a whole other life as a living meme, but it’s tough to argue that Sony‘s Spider-Man-less Marvel-adjacent franchise has really been a success. And yet the studio seems determined to keep pumping away at it, with even Morbius‘ infamy only encouraging them to produce multiple more (see Kraven and Madame Web). And the latest, and perhaps the least-enticing of the bunch, has now finally found itself a director.
As first reported by The Wrap, Jonás Cuarón has been hired by the studio to helm El Muerto, a project starring rapper Bad Bunny which was officially announced this past April. This will be Cuarón’s first English feature, although his surname will no doubt be familiar to cinephiles. The director is the son of acclaimed filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, best known for the likes of Gravity, Roma, and Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban.
In addition to Cuarón’s hiring, Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer has been confirmed to be penning the script, fresh off his work on DC’s Blue Beetle film. In fact, much like that Xolo Maridueña vehicle is the first Latino-fronted movie in the DCEU, El Muerto is notable for being the first Marvel feature to include a Latino leading superhero.
While all of this might sound pretty positive, El Muerto has long been the subject of mockery from fans due to the obscurity of the titular character, who has a total of three comic book appearances to his name. The decision to give the superpowered Mexican wrestler his own movie came from Bad Bunny (real name: Benito A Martinez Ocasio), as Sony was keen to work with him again after his acting debut in this summer’s actioner Bullet Train.
Cuarón is an interesting addition to this production, for sure, but can El Muerto actually bring Sony’s Marvel universe back from the brink? We’ll find out when it hits cinemas on Jan. 12, 2024.