Upcoming Spider-Man franchise film yanked unexpectedly from schedule

Oh, the tangled webs we weave – and in this case, it seems that Sony is stuck in a bit of a tricky spot. El Muerto has been mysteriously swiped off its 2024 release slate.

Having Jonás Cuaron in the director’s chair, El Muerto was originally set to be released on January 12, 2024, but Sony’s recent calendar reshuffle has left the movie’s release date hanging in the breeze, labeled with an ambiguous TBD.

According to Deadline, this schedule snag isn’t a signal that the film is canned – it’s still very much in the works. But it seems a couple of unavoidable hurdles, namely the ongoing WGA strike and some scheduling clashes with tour dates already in place for Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, who stars as El Muerto, have thrown a spanner in the works when it comes to locking down a firm release date.

For those unfamiliar with the comic lore, El Muerto, also known as Juan-Carlos Estrada Sánchez, is the offspring of a luchador (a Mexican wrestler) who is destined to inherit a magical wrestling mask. This is no ordinary mask, as it bestows upon its wearer superhuman strength and endurance, turning them into a formidable foe for both men and gods in the wrestling ring.

Bad Bunny, with his existing ties to the world of professional wrestling, seemed the perfect fit for this role when he was cast as Marvel’s first live-action Latino lead back in April 2022. But alas, filming hadn’t even kicked off a year later.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. While we lament the delay of El Muerto, the silver lining comes in the form of other movies getting their time in the spotlight. Sony’s shift-around has resulted in Dumb Money, the GameStop stocks film featuring Paul Dano, now debuting on September 22, 2023. Moreover, Jeymes Samuel’s The Book of Clarence has nipped into the now-vacated January slot.

Guess we’ll just have to sit tight and keep our Spidey senses tuned for further updates on El Muerto.