If it’s up to Antonio Banderas, he’d be involved with a Zorro reboot. Back in 1998, Banderas played the iconic swordsman in the hit film The Mask of Zorro alongside Anthony Hopkins, who appeared as a former Zorro passing on the torch to Banderas’ character. Banderas would later reprise the role for the 2005 sequel The Legend of Zorro.
In Hollywood, recent years have seen many actors reprising classic roles in new legacy sequels and reboots to popular movies and TV shows from the past. That opens the door for Banderas to appear in a new take on Zorro, reprising the role he portrayed in the two feature films in 1998 and 2005. It’s a decision that is not up to Banderas, but as he recently explained in a ComicBook.com interview, he’d be up for playing that part once again. In fact, he envisions himself serving a role very similar to that of Hopkins in The Mask of Zorro, coming in as a mentor to similarly pass on the torch, or should we say the sword, to a different actor as the new Zorro.
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There has been some interest in rebooting Zorro, and there have been differing reports about a new movie or TV show getting off the ground. For years, rumors have swirled about a gender-swapped reboot happening at NBC, though it was reported earlier this year that the project has moved to The CW. Separately, Wilmer Valderrama is attached to a planned Zorro series in the works at Disney+, though there’s no indication at this time that Banderas will be involved, or that it will have any connection with those Zorro films.
“I’ll tell you this: This will be a Zorro for this generation, and it’ll be incredibly thoughtful with its origin story, and it’ll be grounded in authenticity,” Valderrama said on The Drew Barrymore Show in May. “It is a lot on my plate, but I’m up for the challenge. You come to a point in her life where… we talk about this Mount Everest, right? And I think Zorro is one of those.”
Banderas nearly reprised his version of the character for a third time in a crossover film Quentin Tarantino was making which would have teamed up Zorro with Django (Jamie Foxx) of Django Unchained. That film wound up falling through as well. Perhaps a special cameo could still happen with one of the other planned reboots in development.
