It’s a shame that El Muerto was ultimately cancelled, considering it could’ve been the project to save Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Due to their deal with Marvel, Sony decided to launch its own cinematic universe of films featuring characters related to Spider-Man. It had a promising start with the release of Venom, but the SSU quickly went downhill.
The Venom trilogy isn’t exactly a quality franchise, but it is nowhere near as disastrous as the rest of the SSU. Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter have had a significant cultural impact on superhero movies, albeit not in a positive way. The string of bad projects resulted in the official end of the SSU before El Muerto even had a chance.
El Muerto Has A Unique Appeal Sony’s Non-Venom Movies Haven’t Matched
El Muerto was first announced at CinemaCon 2022 with Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny set to star in the titular role. Off the bat, the project had a unique appeal that none of the other Sony projects could replicate. At that time, Bad Bunny was still establishing himself as an actor, so it would’ve been exciting to expect him in a starring role.
In fact, El Muerto was conceptualized because of Bad Bunny. Sony had told the artist to choose a character to play in the SSU, and Bad Bunny chose El Muerto. He would’ve brought his real-life experience in the WWE to the role of a luchador, making this film a clear passion project for him.
It was an unpredictable pick from the artist, but there would’ve been advantages to El Muerto being a lesser-known Spider-Man character. With not a lot of source material to go off of, the film probably would’ve felt more independent. The team would’ve had more creative freedom to truly make a unique film unlike anything else in the SSU.
The problem with films like Morbius and Madame Web was that Sony tried so hard to make the characters relevant without having to bring up Spider-Man himself. It wasn’t quite successful, but there would’ve been more room to play with El Muerto, considering that he’s already an unconventional pick for a main character.
Bad Bunny’s Marvel Casting Could Have Been Huge For The Sony Spider-Man Universe
The El Muerto film was presumably cancelled with the official end of the SSU, but it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway. Bad Bunny left the project in 2023 due to scheduling conflicts, and he would’ve been the key to making the film work. Without him in the titular role, the film just wouldn’t have had the same appeal.
Considering Bad Bunny’s popularity, he clearly would’ve been a huge draw, and people likely would’ve seen the movie because of the rapper. If the project had unfolded as initially planned, his casting could’ve been what revived interest in the SSU.
It’s a shame that Bad Bunny’s El Muerto joins the list of canceled SSU films, as it could’ve been a huge project for Sony. We can only wonder what kind of impact it would’ve had on the SSU, including if it could’ve done enough to save the franchise’s reputation.
