Danny Trejo will utilize his own unique action movie flair by starring in the movie 1521, in which he’ll play the famed explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

Danny Trejo may be known for spilling red as Isador "Machete" Cortez, but an upcoming historically based role will also see him navigating the ocean blue.

The action star has, according to Variety, landed the lead role as Ferdinand Magellan in a film titled 1521, which will chronicle the Portuguese explorer's exploits in leading Spain's first expedition into Asia, which landed in the modern-day Philippines. Accordingly, Trejo's lead role will pit him opposite half-Filipino actor Michael Copon (The Bay, Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior), who will play Datu Lapu-lapu, chief of the indigenous inhabitants of Mactan Island, who mounted a resistance against the Spanish colonization attempt. Interestingly, Copon will also serve as the film's director, and will work off a screenplay by Mary Krell-Oishi.

RELATED: Book of Boba Fett Gives Danny Trejo and the Cyborg Biker Gang New Character Posters

Magellan is best known for planning the first circumnavigation of the Earth and completing a significant leg of the journey, crossing the pacific before dying in the Philippines. He met his fate on April 27, 1521 during the Battle of Mactan. Under orders from Rajah Humabon, the king of the province of Cebu, Magellan and his men traveled to the nearby island of Mactan to kill Humabon's enemy, Datu Lapu-lapu. However, the European forces were overwhelmed and left the archipelago with their remaining ships and exhausted crew. The trip was finished by fellow navigator Juan Sebastiàn Elcano. Though the exact number of crew members involved remains disputed, historians believe that just one of the five ships from the original fleet returned, carrying only a few survivors.

Trejo, after fatefully gaining his first role as a boxer in the 1985 movie Runaway Train, has been very active in his 37-year acting career, accumulating over 400 acting credits, according to Collider. His first billed role was in 1987's Penitentiary III, afterward securing roles in the box office hits Desperado, Heat, and the From Dusk Till Dawn vampire-slaying franchise. The actor would famously portray Isador "Machete" Cortez in the Spy Kids franchise, and subsequently reprised the role in a spinoff franchise, starring as the mercenary in 2010's Machete and 2013's Machete Kills. He recently provided his voice for Minions: The Rise of Gru, just one of the 16 movie roles he would take in 2022.

RELATED: Flash's Danny Trejo Performs His Own Stunt in Gravity-Defying Running Wild With Bear Grylls Clip

As if that wasn't enough, Trejo also recently made a single-episode appearance on Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett, credited as "Rancor Keeper." There had been rumors about Trejo's eventual appearance in a Star Wars title since 2020, when the co-writer of 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Gary Whitta, claimed that he would use his connections -- notably with executive producer and creative director at Lucasfilm David Filoni -- to possibly land Trejo a role for The Mandalorian.

Joining Trejo and Copon in 1521's primary cast are Bea Alonzo as the Mactan princess Diwata, Hector David Jr. as Magellan's translator Enrique and Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan as princess Diwata's sister Ahmani.

1521 will reportedly begin principal photography in Palawan sometime this month. There is currently no release date.

Subscribe to the CBR newsletter for exclusive comics, TV & movie news, reviews, interviews & much more!