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Johnston McCulley’s 1919 creation of the seminal pencil-mustached vigilante Zorro has had a long, strange journey over the years: Originally conceived in the halcyon days of the pulps (with a first appearance in All-Story Weekly for all of you Junior Woodchuck historians out there), this slightly different take on the legendary Robin Hood character featured our protagonist Don Diego de la Vega, a chap who comes from a privileged home and who is secretly El Zorro, hero to the downtrodden and oppressed throughout the lands of early California. The character caught on and, in short order, transitioned from the pulps into silver screen immortality with a year of his debut. Cinema was but one of the homes of this storied crusader, however. Over the decades, Zorro has splashed through comic books, the Sunday funnies, radio programs and television. The last medium has always proven a de facto home for our hero, and according to our swashbuckling buddies over at The Hollywood Reporter, Zorro is headed back to those green pastures for an upcoming Disney series; watch your back, Antonio Banderas!
It was announced this very day that actor Wilmer Valderrama of That 70s Show fame would be tackling the seemingly immortal character of Zorro in an upcoming “telenovela style” Zorro series which is being shined and polished by The House That Uncle Walt Built (Disney). Gary Marsh has been tapped to executive produce this update for Disney Branded Television. At press time, an official network and/or platform for the series has not been decided on.
“We’re reimagining this Disney classic as a compelling period piece, set in Pueblo de Los Angeles, but told in a very modern telenovela style – with richly drawn contemporary characters and relationships set against the action, drama, suspense and humor of the original, iconic Zorro,” Disney Branded Television Big Wheel Ayo Davis said in a statement. “Wilmer shares our commitment to reflect the interesting and rich diversity of the human experience and we look forward to delivering a culturally relevant and entertaining story with definitional characters that will connect with our viewers for generations to come.” Drop that mic, Mayo; drop it.
And what of The Man Who Was and Forevermore Will Be ‘Fez’; what say he of the new Zorro lineage?
“Growing up, Zorro was the one character that made me, as a Latino, feel like I could be a hero. As an adult and a storyteller, I have a responsibility in the stories that I help bring to life,” Valderrama said in a press release. “To partner with Gary and Disney to bring Zorro back into the family after sixty years and be a part of the legacy for other children to know they too can be the heroes of their own stories is a dream come true.”
Zorro is without an announced release date, but I’d bet my Douglas Fairbanks The Mark of Zorro lunchbox that an announcement will be forthcoming faster than you can say “There is someone that I must meet again…” Stay tuned, Junior Swashbucklers!
