While three TV adaptations remain in development for the character, Antonio Banderas shares his idea for a new Zorro movie co-starring Tom Holland. Originally created by pulp magazine writer Johnston McCulley, Zorro is a masked vigilante best known for helping defend the people of his hometown of the Pueblo of Los Angeles from a variety of greedy businessman and corrupt political leaders. Though portrayed by a variety of people on both the big and small screens, Banderas' portrayal of Zorro in both The Mask of Zorro and The Legend of Zorro remains one of his most iconic roles and incarnations, leaving some to wonder who could take on the mantle after him.
In a recent interview with ComicBook.com to discuss the upcoming Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Antonio Banderas was asked his thoughts on returning for a new Zorro movie. Not only did the actor confirm his interest in being in another installment, but he also expressed an interest to set up a new actor in the role, naming Tom Holland as his ideal successor. See what Banderas shared below:
Yes, I would. I would consider that possibility. Why not? I think during today's interviews I said something like that to somebody… I said that if they call it Zorro, I will do what Anthony Hopkins did in the first movie and so give the torch to somebody else. Tom Holland. I did Uncharted with him, and he's so energetic and fun, and he's got this spark, too. Why not?
Could Holland Work As The Next Zorro?
Considering Banderas has experience working with Holland on the Uncharted movie, and his own past in the franchise, he does have a fairly informed perspective on who he feels could take over the mantle of Zorro in the future. With Holland having shown his physical skills with both the Spider-Man trilogy and adaptation of Naughty Dog's action video games, he would be a perfect fit for the physicality required of the sword-wielding vigilante. Additionally, with the actor already situated as a household name, his attachment to a new Zorro movie could help establish some anticipation among audiences to convince Sony, the studio behind Banderas' movies, to produce such a project.
The biggest concern some audiences may hold about the possibility of a new Zorro movie with Banderas passing on the torch to Holland is the importance of the character's ethnicity. The hero's secret identity is that of Don Diego de la Vega, and though Anthony Hopkins portrayed de la Vega in The Mask of Zorro, Banderas' Alejandro Murrieta carrying on the mantle proved to be a very positive step forward in Latin representation on screen, delivering an authentic representation for Zorro that younger audiences could look up to. Though it could be explained in a new Zorro movie that Holland's successor is a white character Alejandro passes the torch on to, the concern then becomes about turning the story into one of a white savior, a route that has similarly been minimized in film in recent years.
Even if Antonio Banderas' idea for a new Zorro movie co-starring Tom Holland doesn't come to fruition, it isn't the end of the character's future on screen. Wilmer Valderrama is currently working with Disney+ to develop a reimagining of the property through a "modern telenovela" lens, while The CW acquired the rights to a modern-day Zorro series centered on a female incarnation of the hero from executive producers Robert Rodriguez and Sofia Vergara, and Prime Video is similarly putting together a 10-episode modern-day series with Money Heist director Javier Quintas and Miguel Ángel Vivas at the helm. In the meantime, audiences can revisit Banderas' Zorro movies streaming on Netflix now.
Source: ComicBook.com