A few days after we published my article Zorro And The Forgotten Fandom, about the century-old pulp fiction hero, I was astonished to hear that the fox would take up the mask and sword yet again. This time, it’s on streaming services Amazon Prime and Disney+, and, a seemingly rare occurrence these days, on television’s The CW. There will be three different series featuring the romantic rogue in black! I’m giddy as a school girl!
Because my introduction to Zorro is due to Disney, I will start there.
In December 2021, Disney announced that Wilmer Valderrama, best known for the character Fes on That ’70s Show, is the executive producer and star of reimagined ‘Zorro’ series for Disney. Of the three upcoming series, this reimagining is the one I look forward to the most after seeing this quote:
“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.”
-Ayo Davis, President of Disney Branded Television.
“Period piece” is the phrase that draws me in because that could mean amazing costumes and set design.
The second interpretation of Zorro is the Zorro series from Amazon Prime. Miguel Bernardeau will play Don Diego/Zorro. The Variety article, as I understand it, explains that this story is about Diego’s life in Spain and the love of youth with Lolita Marquez (Renata Notni). Viewers will see how Diego is shaped by this and other relationships while trying to discover who killed his father. The series will be shot at different locations on Spain’s Canary Islands. The reason this series has piqued my interest is the location. We could finally see what life was like for young Zorro in Spain.
The last Zorro series comes from Robert Rodriguez, Rebecca Rodriguez, and Propagate and will be shown on the CW Network. This version is far different from the previous two I mentioned. In this incarnation, Zorro will be female. This is not the first time there has been a masked female vigilante; we also saw this in Queen of Swords, which ran for only one season, 2000-2001. The plot for the CW series is similar as well: a young woman discovers her father’s been murdered, joins a secret society and adopts the Zorro persona. As to what piques my interest in this story, I would have to say it’s the “secret society” angle. Maybe it will be like Assassin’s Creed.
Well, as a fan of Zorro from a young age, it makes my heart glad that there are people who still want to see the legend ride on, enough so that we are getting three new productions soon!
Which one of these series are you most excited about?
