The legendary first lady of Argentina, Eva Peron, lived a life that left a lasting impression on her nation, but in the years following her passing in 1952, a strange story developed in which her embalmed remains took center stage.

The new fictionalized Disney series “Santa Evita,” which debuts on Star+ on Tuesday, centers on that eerie afterlife in which her body was kept secret for 16 years by a military dictatorship anxious to contain her star power. It is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Argentine author Tomas Eloy Martinez. 

After promoting worker rights and working to secure the right to vote for Argentina’s women, 33-year-old Evita passed away from cancer in 1952. She gained the trust of the nation’s poor because of her ability to move an audience, which she honed during a previous career as a radio actor.

The military overthrew her social reformer husband, then-President Juan Domingo Peron, three years after she passed away. He had made the request to have Evita’s body embalmed and placed in a mausoleum that was never constructed.

However, military leaders continued to worry that the public would turn against them for using the corpse.

She is portrayed by Uruguayan actor Natalia Oreiro, who spoke to Reuters about the situation, “Around the figure of Evita, this great myth, this great legend was built, and that’s what they wanted to kill,”

“That’s why they made her body disappear,” she stated “because it was a symbol.”

The seven 45-minute episodes of the historical thriller are co-directed by Rodrigo Garcia, the son of renowned Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Argentine Alejandro Maci. It is produced by Mexican actress Salma Hayek.

“On one hand, we worked with the novel, the dramaturgy, the unfolding of multiple narrative lines that the novel employs. But on the other hand, we incorporated the historical aspects plus the gothic fable of this story,” Maci stated.

The filmmakers also aimed to dispel myths and humanize the protracted fight for Evita’s body and, ultimately, her lasting legacy.

Many of the actors even went to the elaborate Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires, where Evita’s remains are currently interred, to request permission to portray the frequently gory details of her life after death.

The filmmakers also aimed to dispel myths and humanize the protracted fight for Evita’s body and, ultimately, her lasting legacy.

Many of the actors even went to the elaborate Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires, where Evita’s remains are currently interred, to request permission to portray the frequently gory details of her life after death.