About 100 years ago, the fictional story of Zorro was presented to the public in a pulp magazine. Dressed in all-black attire, including his signature cape, mask, and sombrero, the heroic vigilante who'd often carve a 'Z' in his combatants after a battle, is said to have been a major source of inspiration for the creation of Batman, who came along as a comic book character nearly twenty years later in 1939. Initially, the story of Zorro was meant to be a stand-alone tale, but the premise grew in popularity and soon spawned a best-selling book series. According to legend, the superhero was inspired by Salomón Pico (aka the Real Life Zorro), the late Californio soldier who became famous for his heroics in the Mexican-American War and his proclivity for defending the rights of the locals against the governmental rule.
The first silver-screen adaptation of Zorro was published in 1920. Three decades after the release of The Mark of Zorro, Disney produced Zorro, a series starring Guy Williams, and it aired for three seasons. The classic Western adventure show lived on in the annals of history and would be rebooted numerous times over the years on network television. Still, it wasn't until 1998 that the heralded franchise returned to the mainstream with a blockbuster film starring Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Antonio Banderas. Sony Motion Pictures' production earned multiple nominations for Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and MTV Movie Awards. The film was succeeded by a follow-up effort called, Legend of Zorro in 2005.
Tom Holland was two years old when Antonio Banderas donned Zorro's iconic attire on screen for the first time. The two leading men recently starred in a feature film called "Uncharted" together. Apparently, Banderas was so impressed with his co-star's acting chops that he indicated that the 25-year-old would be his top choice to unseat him as Zorro in another sequel or a potential reboot. In a recent sit-down interview with Comicbook.com the 62-year-old actor was asked about the prospect of grooming a younger version of Zorro before passing the mantle (in the same manner that Anthony Hopskins' once character did with him in The Mask of Zorro). One name immediately came to mind.
"Tom Holland," Banderas said during the discussion. "I did Uncharted with him, and he's so energetic and fun, and he's got this spark, too. Why not... If they call [me to do the project], I will do what Anthony Hopkins did in the first movie and give the torch to somebody else."
Shortly after Banderas expressed his preference for a successor as Zorro, the revelation was met with some pushback because the character is of Mexican descent. While there are no tentative plans to move forward with a third and final Zorro film featuring Antonio Banderas, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has publicly floated the idea of making a special version of the film (possibly a crossover move with Django on multiple occasions) for many years. Back in December of 2021, Disney announced its plan to move forward with a new series starring Mexican American actor Wilmer Valderrama as Zorro on their streaming platform. The show does not have a connection to the latest film series starring Antonio Banderas.
Source: MSN
