Bad Bunny Leaves Sony’s El Muerto Spider-Man Spin-Off Film

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known by the name Bad Bunny, has seemingly left El Muerto, which is one of Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff films.

According to Vanity Fair, Bad Bunny was asked about his role as the titular character in El Muerto, which has been delayed indefinitely. His publicist, Sujeylee Solá, replied, “Next question.” From there, Bad Bunny said, “I don’t know what to say,” describing the subject as “delicate.” Solá then added, “Obviously, it’s out.” It’s possible this may be some sort of misunderstanding, but it’s absolutely reasonable to take from this that Bad Bunny won’t appear in El Muerto.

Bad Bunny’s involvement in the El Muerto movie was announced in 2022, with Jonás Cuarón signing on to direct later that year. In June 2023, El Muerto was pulled from Sony’s release schedule, seemingly due to a combination of Bad Bunny’s touring schedule and the writer’s strike. Previously, El Muerto was intended to release on Jan. 12, 2024. Following Bad Bunny’s exit from the project, the status of El Muerto remains unclear.

El Muerto is one of several potential films from Sony based on the various Marvel characters to whom it owns the rights. There’s currently a movie helmed by Olivia Wilde, which is generally thought to be a Spider-Woman film, in production. The next Marvel Sony movie set for release is Kraven the Hunter, which is slated for Aug. 30, 2024, and will focus on the titular Spider-Man villain.

Also known as Juan-Carlos Estrada Sánchez, El Muerto is an extremely minor villain in the Spider-Man mythos. The character was created by Peter David and Roger Cruz, with his debut taking place in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6. The character, who is a masked wrestler, has virtually no comic book history, which is why you’ve likely picked up on how every outlet reporting on El Muerto has to use the same few images. Overall, making an El Muerto movie was always a bizarre choice, and I’m interested to see if Sony even bothers with the project following Bad Bunny’s departure.