The Professor was designed as a charismatic yet shy villain who could convince the robbers to follow him and make the audience sympathetic to the robbers' resistance against the powerful banks.[6] However, developing the Professor's role proved difficult, as the character did not follow archetypal conventions[7] and the producers were uncertain about his degree of brilliance.[3] While the producers found his Salva personality early on,[4] they were originally looking for a 50-year-old Harvard professor type with the looks of Spanish actor José Coronado.[4][4] The role was proposed to Javier Gutiérrez, but he was already committed to starring in the film Campones.[9]