Zorro rides again! And this time, the man in the mask will become the woman in the mask in a gender-swapping reimagination of the original story, which has been created by Robert Rodriguez and his sister, the writer-directer Rebecca Rodriguez, alongside Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens. In the modern take on the classic story, Deadline reports that the plot will follow “a young Latinx woman discovers that her long-deceased father was the legendary hero Zorro. She takes on his masked persona to defend the desperate citizens of her Austin, Texas community from the wealthy forces seeking to exploit them.”
The character of Zorro has been around for over a century now, having been created by writer Johnston McCulley in 1919. Set in Spanish California, Zorro is the alter ego of Don Diego de la Vega, a wealthy nobleman who stands up for the oppressed and the downtrodden. Zorro’s trademarks are his all black gear, his wide-brimmed hat, his eye-mask (of course) and his trademark ‘Z’, which he carves into wood with his sword at the scene of his many battles. An evergreen character, Zorro has been the subject of countless films, TV shows, and books and is a cultural icon.
Where Else Can I See Zorro?
As proof of the character’s enduring popularity, this is the third adaptation involving the character this year alone. The French language series Zorro, starring the Oscar-winning Jean Dujardin as the masked swordsman, premiered on Paramount+ earlier this month. Before that, Prime Video’s Zorro premiered in January with Miguel Ángel Bernardeau Duato leading the Spanish cast of characters. In addition, Wilmer Valderamma has been developing a Zorro series for Disney+ since 2021. He will also star in the series, which is said to follow Diego De La Vega again, as he returns to his hometown following a family tragedy, and takes on the mantle of Zorro once more.
The most well-known adaptations of the story are probably The Mask of Zorro and its sequel, The Legend of Zorro, which released in 1998 and 2005, respectively. Directed by Martin Campbell, Mask of Zorro features Antonio Banderas as Alejandro Murrieta, a new Zorro, mentored by the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega, played by Anthony Hopkins. The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena, de la Vega’s long-lost daughter. The sequel sees Alejandro now fully established as Zorro but struggling to balance his home life with that of vigilante life, before he’s forced to uncover a conspiracy that threatens the entire country.
Stay tuned to Collider for more on the neverending story of the legend of Zorro.
via Collider