Superhero movies may have quickly taken over Hollywood, but classical pulp heroes haven’t really enjoyed the same kind of success. The Jason Momoa-starring Conan The Barbarian reboot failed to crush anyone’s enemies, and though the new Tarzan could certainly end up wowing everyone with its ape-punching and vine-swinging, it doesn’t exactly have the same amount of buzz as your average Marvel movie (or even a DC movie). The problem with those films is that they’re missing the little pop of freshness that will hook the jaded people who have already seen a dozen Conan or Tarzan movies.
Director Jonás Cuarón may have solved that problem, though, because (as we’ve previously reported) his upcoming Zorro movie takes place in—dramatic pause—the future. Alright, it’s not the most unique twist (and it’s the exact same one used by the old Phantom 2040 cartoon), but it’s hard to deny that the idea of Zorro riding around on a hover bike and carving the letter Z into stuff with a laser sword is totally rad. If anything, every classic pulp hero should have a hover bike and laser sword.
According to Deadline, Gael García Bernal will be starring as Zorro himself, and though we don’t know if the movie will actually have hover bikes and laser swords, we do know that it will put “a modern spin” on the character. Also, the film will simply be titled Z, both because that’s a pretty badass name and because search engine optimization is grossly overrated (apparently).
Bernal, who recently won a Golden Globe for Mozart In The Jungle, will appear in Bernal’s Desierto later this year. There’s no word on when Z will be released, though.