'Dora the Explorer' Movie Casts Benicio Del Toro as Villain Swiper

The live-action Dora the Explorer movie has found its villain in the form of Guardians of the Galaxy's Benicio Del Toro, who will voice the infamous Swiper, a thieving fox who likes to show up and steal Dora's hard-earned artifacts. The nefarious character was a major staple of the animated series, and gave it one of its most famous catchphrases: "Swiper, no swiping!"

Del Toro has apparently joined Dora after principal production was already completed in Australia weeks ago, The Hollywood Reporter reports. His voice will be another big celebrity addition to the movie, which also stars Instant Family's Isabela Moner as Dora as well as Michael Pena and Eva Longoria as Dora's parents. Additional casting includes Madeleine Madden as Dora's high school friend, Micke Moreno as Dora's cousin Diego, and Adriana Barraza as Dora's grandmother Abuela Valerie.

Clearly, from the nature of this casting, the live-action version of Dora will have a CGI version of Swiper who sports Del Toro's signature baritone growl.

The premise of this Dora the Explorer movie will see Dora headed for high school only to land in an adventure that sees her leading her BFF Boots the monkey, her cousin Diego, and other teens on what has been described as a Goonies-style adventure involving her missing parents and a lost Inca civilization.

Dora the Explorer is just one popular animated character of the 2000s now getting the live-action movie treatment; Kim Possible is also getting a movie, albeit a TV movie that will air on Disney Channel. Still, for young millennials everywhere, this will either be a nice bit of nostalgia or the first real chance to see what happens when Hollywood starts playing around with your favorite childhood icons.

Meanwhile, Benicio Del Toro continues to quietly widen his career path, with 2018 seeing him appear in a major superhero blockbuster film (Avengers: Infinity War), a dark Rated-R action film (Sicario: Day of the Soldado), and a critically acclaimed TV miniseries crime drama (Escape at Dannemora). That's not even counting his role in another big franchise: playing shady hacker "DJ" in Solo with the door still open for his character to return in either Star Wars: Episode IX or a different spinoff project. Needless to say, as the entertainment industry continues to evolve, Benicio Del Toro is staying smart about how to evolve with it.

Dora the Explorer will hit theaters on August 2, 2019.