Antonio Banderas Speaks on Returning for New Zorro Movie

By Michael Hein

Antonio Banderas is about to reprise his most famous swashbuckling, rapier-wielding role, but he is also interested in reprising his role as Zorro. Banderas stars as Puss in Boots in The Last Wish, which premieres in theaters next month. In a new interview with our sister site, ComicBook.com, he confirmed that he would return for a Zorro revival if he was asked.

The character Puss in Boots was introduced in Shrek 2 and was obviously a loose parody of Zorro from the beginning, with Banderas' casting being a major hint. He took on the mantle of Zorro in 1998's The Mask of Zorro and carried it on in 2005's The Legend of Zorro. While promoting Puss in Boots: The Last Wish this week, Banderas said he would be happy to return as Zorro – or perhaps to don the mask one last time as he passes it on to another young actor.

"Yes, I would, I would consider that possibility, why not?" Banderas said. "Yeah, I think today, I said something like that to somebody. They asked me about Zorro. If they called me to do Zorro, I would do what Anthony Hopkins did for me, which is to pass the torch."

The Mask of Zorro introduced the historical fiction vigilante as an already existing hero, played in his first incarnation by Anthony Hopkins. During the course of the movie, Hopkins' character and Banderas' character – Don Diego de la Vega and Alejandro Murrieta, respectively – develop a student/mentor relationship before Vega passes the moniker of Zorro off to Murrieta. The Legend of Zorro picks up nine years later, with Alejandro still carrying the torch proudly.

The Legend of Zorro was not nearly as successful as its predecessor, so the franchise fizzled out at the time. However, there have been talks of a potential revival for years, including one 2019 rumor that seemed particularly promising. According to a report by Collider at the time, Quentin Tarantino was working on a crossover film called Django/Zorro where he hoped Banderas would reprise his role as Zorro alongside Jamie Foxx as Django Freeman. Together, the two would fight to free slaves, including indigenous people.

For now, there is no official confirmation of a new Zorro movie, but Banderas is clearly interested. In the meantime, fans can catch him in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish starting on Wednesday, Dec. 21 in theaters.

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