Imported Zorro TV Series Starring Oscar Winner Takes A Page Out Of Daredevil Comics
A “French reimagining” of Zorro, one of the oldest pulp adventure properties in existence, is coming to North America this summer, and it’s bringing a few extra twists that might sound vaguely familiar, as they echo reinventions of other classic heroes.
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As Variety first reported, the eight‑episode miniseries will stream in Canada and the United States on Kino Lorber’s service MHz Choice starting in late June, following its original run on France 2.
It stars French actor Jean Dujardin, known for the Oscar-winning film The Artist and Golden Globe winner The Wolf of Wall Street, as Don Diego de la Vega, now older, wearier, and ready to trade his rapier and masked crusade for a political platform. Rather than fighting corruption from the shadows, this version of de la Vega attempts to confront it in the open, stepping into public office as his new battleground.
It’s 1821, and he is going to be the Mayor of Los Angeles, which has just broken free of Spain. But De la Vega faces a financial crisis caused by a greedy businessman (Don Emmanuel, played by Eric Elmosnino, best known for the 2010 biopic Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life). To confront him, he has to put the mask back on and ride again for the first time in 20 years.
“Zorro’ marks the most well-known IP we’ve brought to MHz to date,” said executive VP of content strategy at MHz Choice, Lance Schwulst. “There are a lot of ‘Zorro’ adaptations, but this one really stood out to us as unlike any other we’ve seen. It’s fun, adventurous, sexy, and cheeky, and with Jean Dujardin as the man behind the mask, who would say no?”
Producer Marc Dujardin (no relation to Jean) added, “The result is a delightful blend of spectacular action and romantic comedy.” He continued, “Although Zorro is a hero who has always existed at the crossroads of cultures, he was born in the imagination of an American author who loved California.”
Zorro was created by Johnston McCulley in 1919. Over the last century, the character has been adapted for numerous television series, films, and comics, including a Dynamite run in which he teams up with Django. To date, the swashbuckler’s most noteworthy cinematic iteration is the Antonio Banderas portrayal.
The new series with Jean Dujardin is produced in tandem by Paramount+, France Télévisions, Marc Dujardin’s Le Collectif 64, and Julien Seul’s Bien Sûr Productions. It was created by Benjamin Charbit and Noé Debré, and also co-written by Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud.
If the premise sounds familiar, that may be because it resembles something Marvel did with Matt Murdock in the pages of Daredevil comics. In a few alternate universes, Matt retired to become the Mayor of a major city, including New York on Earth-98.
Later on in 2018, he briefly succeeded Wilson Fisk as the Mayor of NYC in 616 continuity to deal with The Hand, stepping down once his mission was complete.
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