Wrestling might be a big deal in the United States for fans of the WWE, but down in Mexico, wrestling is essentially a national pastime. But below the border, it’s called lucha libre (or freestyle wrestling), and it features colorfully masked and costumed luchadors trying to take each other down. And now a real life luchador will serve as the inspiration for a coming-of-age superhero action comedy called Ultra Violet & Blue Demon over at The Disney Channel.
Ultra Violet & Blue Demon will follow a 13-year old girl named Violet who is chosen by a magical luchador mask to be the successor to her uncle, the real-life famed luchador Blue Demon Jr. (seen above), who will be playing himself in the series. But Blue Demon Jr. just so happens to be a secret superhero, and Violet will be training to become one herself (in secret, of course) while dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a teenager.
Blue Demon Jr. is the first Mexican and only the second masked wrestler to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, and he’s also the adopted son of the original wrestling legend Blue Demon. In addition to starring, he’ll be executive producing the series along with Detective Pikachu executive producers Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, who will also be writing. Alejandro Damiani will direct the series with Dan Carrillo Levy, Eugenio Villamar and Jorge Castro also serving as executive producers.
However, The Disney Channel’s order for Ultra Violet & Blue Demon is cast-contingent on finding a young female lead to play Violet. That shouldn’t be too hard since Disney Channel has found many young talents and turned them into stars. Casting is happening right now in Los Angeles and Mexico with Coco casting director Carla Hool on the hunt. If the right girl is found, then the show will start shooting in a few months.
This project continues to show Disney+’s efforts to reel in a larger Hispanic audience. The streaming service also has a new Star Wars series focusing on Diego Luna as his Rogue One character Cassian Andor. But this luchador-centric series is much more firmly geared towards the Latin community as it brings Mexican wrestling to the forefront of a show. And it’s all part of Disney’s larger efforts to expand representation for a variety of cultures on the big and small screen.
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