Sony’s “El Muerto,” a superhero spinoff starring Bad Bunny, no longer has a release date.
The film, originally scheduled for Jan. 12, 2024, has been removed from the studio’s calendar. As part of the announcement, Sony shifted around the dates for “Dumb Money,” inspired by the GameStop sock frenzy, which will open on Sept. 22 instead of Oct. 20; as well as the LaKeith Stanfield-led biblical epic “The Book of Clarence,” which took the place of “El Muerto” after moving from Sept. 22 to the mid-January slot.
“El Muerto,” set in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, is the studio’s first live-action superhero movie to star a Latino actor. Known in the comics as Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, El Muerto is a wrestler whose superhuman powers stem from a special mask that’s been passed down through generations. It’s not clear if Spider-Man will appear in the film, but El Muerto once faced the web-slinger (on the pages of Marvel Comics) in the hopes of unmasking the vigilante before the two ended up joining forces.
“To bring El Muerto to life is just incredible… so exciting,” Bad Bunny told audiences at CinemaCon in 2022, when the project was first announced.
“El Muerto” is one of several Spider-Man-related spinoffs in the works from Sony. So far, the studio has mined its arsenal of Marvel characters to mixed results. “Venom” and its 2021 sequel “Let There Be Carnage” scored with $1.3 billion combined, but neither were critical darlings. Ditto for Jared Leto’s vampire-inspired “Morbius,” which failed to charm audiences and ended its theatrical run with $167 million.
Up next, Sony has “Kraven the Hunter,” starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, on Oct. 6 and “Madame Web,” featuring Dakota Johnson, on Feb. 16.