Gotham City is where the notorious yet enchanting underbelly thrives, not just from the diverse cast of supervillains but also from the artful orchestration of ‘regular’ criminals. Among them stands a figure emblematic of the city’s organized crime: Carmine Falcone. Portrayed in Matt Reeves’ The Batman by John Turturro, this character added a layer of gritty realism to the beloved franchise.
But did you know that behind Turturro’s newfound villainous persona lay a childhood admiration not for the Caped Crusader but for the swashbuckling Zorro?
His journey—from being fascinated by Zorro to playing a crucial part in Gotham’s dark plot & even penning a moving “letter” to Steven Spielberg asking him to don the mask of Zorro himself—speaks volumes about his love for these legendary figures.
Zorro vs. Batman: John Turturro’s Unexpected Superhero Preference
Carmine Falcone, a ruthless enemy of Batman, has made a name for himself as one of Gotham City’s most feared criminals. Portrayed by the talented John Turturro in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the actor has surely brought a new level of intensity to the screen.
Playing a villain in a Batman flick is a dream come true for Turturro, but only to a certain extent. Growing up, the actor, now 67, idolized Zoro, whose swashbuckling adventures stole his young heart. In an Inquirer.net interview, he reminisced about his childhood days, swinging a stick like a sword and pretending to be the legendary masked hero.
Turturro confessed:
I loved Batman growing up, but I’m really a Zorro fan. So there’s no Batman without Zorro. When I was 5 years old, I thought I was Zorro with a sword. I had a stick that I hit my father with all the time.
Determined to fulfill his childhood dream, he took matters into his own hands and wrote a passionate “letter” to the executive producer Steven Spielberg, expressing his desire to play Zorro in The Mask of Zorro:
When they were going to do that, I was, oh, they’re going to do Zorro. I wrote Steven Spielberg a letter. I wrote, I think you should consider me for Zorro.
However, the role was later bagged by Antonio Banderas. Known for his daring duels, impeccable swordsmanship, and firm sense of justice, Zorro continues to inspire audiences around the world. While Batman may have taken the spotlight in recent years, Zorro’s legacy lives on through the ages.
Steven Spielberg’s Foreboding Message to Antonio Banderas For Zorro
In Hollywood’s enchanted land, where dreams are spun like silk and fantasy dances with reality, there is a tale of timeless elegance and bravery known as The Mask of Zorro. An adventure brought to life by the dashing Antonio Banderas in 1998.
But behind the scenes, a prophecy was whispered by the legendary Steven Spielberg. As an executive producer on the film, he gazed into the crystal ball of cinema and saw a future painted in pixels and CGI magic. When Spielberg spoke to Banderas with the wisdom of a sage, his words carried the weight of inevitability as the latter recalled (via Yahoo! Entertainment):
Steven Spielberg said to me once when we were shooting, ‘This is probably going to be one of the last Westerns shot in the way the Westerns were shot in the old days, with real scenes with real horses, where everything is real, [real] sword fighting, no CGI.’ Everything was [practical].
Banderas listened intently to Spielberg’s prophecy. The Law of Desire actor shared:
And he said, ‘But things are going to change. They’re going to change and they’re gonna change fast. And so you should be proud of this movie.’ And I am, probably even more now than at the time that I was doing it.
The film’s journey to stardom is not just about storytelling prowess but also a testament to its extraordinary success, as evidenced by its whopping $250 million haul on a modest $95 million budget (Box Office Mojo).
And as Spielberg’s prophecy continues to unfold before our eyes, we find ourselves transported to a world where the delight of a good old-fashioned adventure beckons the inner child in each of us.
The Mask of Zorro is streaming on FuboTV, while The Batman is available on Max.
