Trivia / Águila Roja

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Eusebio Poncela jumped immediately to play Malasangre as soon as he heard he would be playing a cannibal murderer.
• Follow the Leader: RTVE's unexpected success with Águila Roja seemed to convince other Spanish TV channels to try their own hand in the historical fiction/adventure genre during The New '10s. Telecinco launched the TV series Piratas, which backfired spectacularly and got cancelled lightning fast, and Antena 3 tried the same with Toledo, cruce de destinos, which in turn resisted a whole season and got a significant share before going down to leave space for El barco. The successful RTVE series Isabel was also created during this wave.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Francis Lorenzo, a very popular talk show host and mainly comedic actor best known for playing a Cool Teacher in the Save Our Students TV series Compañeros during The '90s, plays here The Dragon, the utterly evil Sheriff... and his enemy is a teacher.
  • Miryam Gallego, better known for playing a caring psychologist in the medical drama series Hospital Central, plays here the vicious Marchioness of Santillana.
  • Actor and comedian Edu Soto, known for his lively Lower-Class Lout character "El Neng", appears for two episodes as the King's deranged cousin.
  • Loles León, known for her comedic work with Pedro Almodóvar, plays here the Jerkass Manipulative Bitch Sagrario.
  • Eusebio Poncela, although also known for his scandalous LGBTI work with Almodóvar, is universally remembered for playing the suave detective Pepe Carvalho in its eponymous series. In Águila Roja, however, he plays psycho bandit Malasangre.
  • Fernando Albizu, a charismatic actor who often plays Big Fun guys, plays here Manrique, a pseudo-pedophilic rich man that kidnaps children.
• Reality Subtext: Poncela knows well what is to being labeled an outcast and a sexual deviant like Malasangre, having experienced the conservative Franco dictatorship as a closeted homosexual and describing himself as an anarchist and an eccentric in real life.
• Screwed by the Network: A staggering number of times. RTVE constantly changed the series's date and hour, ordered mid-season hiatuses out of nowhere, and at times even forgot to announce every new season. The series only resisted this mismanagement out of sheer Popularity Power.
• Sleeper Hit: Possibly the biggest in Spanish TV history, as its ridiculous concept and shoddy production are almost as unparalleled as its success is.
• Star-Making Role: Sátur was this for Javier Gutiérrez.