Bad Bunny joins Marvel and becomes the newest Latino hero 'El Muerto'© Marvel/Getty Images

Bad Bunny joins Marvel and becomes the newest Latino hero ‘El Muerto’

The Puerto Rican rapper secured the lead role in the comic book film, which is set to hit theaters on January 12, 2024


Senior Writer
APRIL 26, 2022 10:58 AM EDT

Bad Bunny has secured a role as Marvel’s newest hero. Sony Pictures includes the Puerto Rican rapper in their portfolio and gives him the lead role in the comic book film El Muerto, which is set to hit theaters on January 12, 2024.

Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, will be the first-ever Latino actor to headline a live-action Marvel movie. “To bring El Muerto to life is just incredible .. so exciting,” he said at CinemaCon, an annual gathering of movie theater owners held in Las Vegas.

CinemaCon 2022   CinemaCon Opening Night and Sony Pictures Entertainment Presentation© GettyImages
Bad Bunny speaks onstage during Opening Night and Sony Pictures Entertainment Presentation at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, on April 25, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to Marvel, El Muerto follows the story of Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, a pro wrestler whose powers have been passed down by ancestry in a mask that gives him superhuman strength. During CinemaCon, Sony Motion Pictures Group president Sanford Panitch suggested Bad Bunny would play the role of an antihero inheriting his father’s power.

El Muerto is part of the upcoming Sony Marvel projects, including “Madame Web,” starring Dakota Johnson, “Kraven the Hunter,” starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and co-starring   Ariana DeBose  .

Bad Bunny’s Marvel news comes after announcing his upcoming album. As HOLA! USA previously reported, an ad popped up on a Puerto Rican classifieds website selling a Bugatti listed under the name Benito A. Martinez Ocasio.

“Selling a Bugatti Chiron 110 anniversary ready for transfer. It’s in my name, 0 tickets, it has a tag and is up to date with maintenance. 16 cylinder engine, 4 turbines with 1,479 horsepower. Totally immaculate, it only has 486 miles and 9 hours of flying. I’m giving it away for $3.5 million,” reads the listing.

A phone number was included, prompting fans to call and listen to a snippet of a song. After the call, some callers received a text. “Hello! :) Thank you for calling. There’s only a little time left until the album comes out. I still can’t say the date, but I can tell you the name: Un Verano Sin Ti,” it reads.

Earlier this week, Bad Bunny also unveiled several wax figures at Madame Tussauds’ Museum. “I’ve always wanted to look at myself straight on and how it is to stand next to myself,” Benito said upon the reveal. “I saw a picture during production, but now looking at it in person, it’s so crazy.”

To perfect the wax figures, Bad Bunny worked closely with the museum’s studio artists in London, who reportedly took around 200 measurements and photographs to capture Bunny’s likeness.