Vico Ortiz is shooting their shot. On Saturday (November 26), the nonbinary actor best known for their role on the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death tweeted that they would like to be considered as a successor to Antonio Banderas if another Zorro film was ever to be produced.
The topic came up when ComicBook.com asked Banderas if he would ever consider reprising his role as the masked vigilante in a third film. Banderas portrayed Zorro in 1998’s The Mask of Zorro and in 2005’s The Legend of Zorro.
“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.”
And who would Banderas pass the torch to, you ask? His answer was uninspiring, to say the least. “Tom Holland,” Banderas said. “I did Uncharted with him, and he’s so energetic and fun.”
Banderas’ answer generated plenty of thoughts about his choice and prompted Ortiz to share their thoughts about playing the character. “But how about… me?” Ortiz tweeted alongside a smirking emoji.
We’re not sure if Ortiz was only kidding (half kidding?) or completely serious, but why not? A talented, nonbinary Latine actor would be the perfect choice to take up the mantle from Banderas in a film that would complete the trilogy and begin a new phase of the Zorro narrative. Based on the reactions from Ortiz’s followers, they thought the idea was fantastic.
“I mean, yes please,” one Twitter user wrote alongside photos of Ortiz holding a sword and dressed in a black jacket and wearing a Cordovan-style hat.
Others thought casting Ortiz would be a better choice than casting a “White British dude” to play the role. “I want to make it my life’s work to make this happen because I for one would watch the hell out of it,” the tweet reads. “Vico as Zorro please, studios!”
“Vico as Zorro!” another user tweeted. “Shouting it in the streets!!”
