| El Muerto | |
|---|---|
El Muerto. Art by Roger Cruz. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 (May 2006) |
| Created by | Peter David Roger Cruz |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez |
| Abilities |
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El Muerto is a fictional character, a wrestler in the Marvel Comics Universe, associated with Spider-Man. He first appeared in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6.
A Generation ago, the self-proclaimed wrestling god known as El Dorado ("the Gilded One") bestows the mystical Mask of El Muerto upon a man named Estrada, granting him superhuman strength and endurance; however, every subsequent generation in the Estrada lineage is forced to fight El Dorado ritualistically for the right to retain the mask. One member of that lineage, young Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, has been trained since childhood by his father, that era's mask bearer, for his eventual battle with El Dorado; but when the time for his test finally arrives, the frightened Juan-Carlos does not want to fight. His father dies, beheaded while attempting to prevent the god from killing Juan-Carlos for his failure. El Dorado then bestows the mask upon Juan-Carlos out of respect for his father's bravery, allowing Juan-Carlos ten years to train before requiring him to find a masked champion to humiliate and unmask publicly in order to expunge the taint of his cowardice.
Ten years later, Juan-Carlos (as El Muerto) travels to New York City and saves the lives of Daily Bugle owner J. Jonah Jameson and his son John Jameson from a gunman. In return, Jonah Jameson organizes a televised, million-dollar-charity wrestling match between El Muerto and Spider-Man. During the match, Spider-Man inadvertently wounds El Muerto. El Muerto is rushed to the hospital, where he faces El Dorado, who intends to kill him for failing to unmask Spider-Man; however, El Muerto and Spider-Man keep El Dorado occupied long enough for Spider-Man to concoct an acidic solution (aqua regia) capable of dissolving El Dorado's mystical gold armor. Now vulnerable, El Dorado disappears before El Muerto and Spider-Man can defeat him.
El Muerto's mask grants him superhuman strength (optimally lifting 30 tons) and endurance. He is a highly-skilled wrestler, extensively trained in both freestyle and shoot-style grappling. He is fluent in Spanish but speaks broken English.