Death comes in many forms but it was cancer that took away the lives of a couple of Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes. It was our Black Panther Chadwick Boseman in 2020 and then we lost Kamar de los Reyes, aka the White Tiger, from Daredevil: Born Again in 2023. Most of you know him as the charming antagonist from the Call of Duty: Black Ops franchise as Raul Menendez.
Recently, Daredevil: Born Again director Michael Cuesta discussed him while having a chat with Brandon Davis on Phase Hero: A Film & TV Podcast. And it was then he told us about the experience while working with Kamar. Just like the case with Boseman, Kamar never told anyone about the disease and went on to shoot the latest Marvel TV show.
No One had an Idea What Kamar was Going Through
Kamar’s White Tiger was introduced in the second episode of Daredevil: Born Again, where Charlie Cox, who plays Matt Murdock, is helping him with a case where he is falsely accused of killing a cop. Cuesta told Brandon that:
But the guy worked really hard. He wanted to be — he worked through a lot of pain. At the time, we didn’t know what was happening. I would check with him every half hour, and he was like, ‘I’m good, stop bothering Michael. I’m fine. I want to do it.’ Which, you know, in retrospect, I really understand him wanting to do that.
For those who know him from Call of Duty: Black Ops days, they can see how polar opposite Kamar’s character is in Daredevil: Born Again. Although Raul Menendez cannot be deemed an evil person given the death of his sister Josefina (voiced by Eden Riegel) at the hands of US forces. During his trial, when asked why he chose to do things he did as the White Tiger, he simply answered that:
It’s the right thing to do!
Other than films and TV shows, Kamar de los Reyes has proved his worth as an artist on a theater stage too. His role as Chicano boxer Pedro ‘Roadman’ Quinn in Blade to the Heat in 1994 is still recognized as one of the stellar performances in his career. To add to his credibility, it was back in 1997 that he made it to People Magazine’s “Fabulous 50” list.
For more Thumb Wars film and TV coverage, see why The Last of Us Season Two could be flipping the switch on this infamous Abby scene or see an unexpected Joel moment that made it to the show.
Anurag Batham is a Writer at Thumb Wars zeroed in on video games but will also throw himself up on anything in association with anime and cinema. As with his favorite video games, give him anything with a linear story, be it Call of Duty or Braid, and he will be happy. He think of stories as food and wants to feed his readers something nutritious, food for thought.
