X

The Next Marvel Hero: Bad Bunny as Spider-Man Spinoff El Muerto

Sony also confirms that Venom 3 is happening.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
2 min read
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 23: Musician Bad Bunny performs on stage at Pechanga Arena on February 23, 2022 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)

Bad Bunny eyes up a Marvel starring role in 2024's El Muerto.

Daniel Knighton/Getty Images

After Venom and Morbius, the next Spider-Man spinoff coming to the big screen is El Muerto -- a supernatural superhero luchador to be played by pop star Bad Bunny.

Movie studio Sony announced the flick at film industry shindig CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Monday. It's set to be released Jan. 12, 2024. Sony also confirmed Venom 3 will follow last year's sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage starring Tom Hardy, as well as confirming a sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife. No dates for those have been announced as yet.

Bad Bunny, also known as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was Spotify's most-streamed artist in both 2020 and 2021, topping 9 billion streams last year. The Puerto Rican rapper, producer and occasional WWE professional wrestler will be Marvel 's first live-action Latino lead. He's also set to join Brad Pitt and an all-star cast in the forthcoming action flick Bullet Train.

Bad Bunny's top rope experience at WWE Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble will stand him in good stead to play El Muerto, a lesser-known Marvel comics character whose wrestling superpowers are passed down through the generations, leading to a masked wrestling match with Spider-Man himself. The masked wrestler was created by writer Peter David and artist Roger Cruz, first appearing in 2006.

Sony holds the film rights to various characters from the Spider-Man comics. While Sony and Disney work together to put Tom Holland's friendly neighborhood webslinger in Marvel Cinematic Universe movies like No Way Home, Sony has its own universe of spinoffs beginning with Tom Hardy as Venom. Other Sony Spider-spinoffs include this year's vampire flick Morbius, starring Jared Leto, followed by the forthcoming Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, on Jan. 13, 2023, and Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson, expected July 7, 2023.

New Movies Coming in 2023 From Marvel, Netflix, DC and More

See all photos

2023's Best TV and Streaming Shows You Can't Miss on Netflix, HBO, Disney Plus and More

See all photos