Spy Kids series

In Spy Kids, Machete is first seen in a flashback, at his brother Gregorio's wedding. When Gregorio and his wife Ingrid get captured by Fegan Floop, Carmen and Juni, Gregorio's children, visit their "Uncle Machete", hoping he will help them to save their parents. Machete refuses to go after Gregorio, as they are estranged, but allows his niece and nephew to stay with him, and shows them a one-passenger jet that could get them to Floop's castle. Carmen and Juni take the jet, some of his gadgets, and a map of the castle at night. Machete appears again near the end of the film, when he decides to help the Cortezes against an army of robotic children. When asked why he came back, Machete claimed it is the same reason he left. Gregorio no longer remembers the reason and neither does Machete. Machete then cries in his brother's arms. At the end of the film, he is seen with the Cortez family.

In Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Machete has built Carmen and Juni a high-tech treehouse after they have become secret agents. Machete then shows some of his latest gadgets - spy watches and the Machete elastic wonder. At the end of the film, Carmen claims she cannot sing, so Machete shows Carmen a microphone that autotunes her voice and Juni a guitar that plays itself. When they are done, Machete informs Carmen and Juni that he did not put any batteries in them and that Carmen was actually singing and Juni was actually playing guitar.

Machete appears near the end of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, when he helps battle the Toymaker's video-game robots. After the battle, Machete becomes closer with the Cortezes.

Machete makes a cameo appearance in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, where he is seen tripping in a laboratory when time is frozen by Danger D'Amo (Armageddon). In a deleted scene, while Cecil and Rebecca are running from two OSS agents, they end up in his laboratory, managing to ruin several experiments. As they are found by Machete, he hides them from the OSS agents.

Machete makes a brief cameo in an episode of Spy Kids: Mission Critical, where he is once again seen in a laboratory tinkering with gadgets.

Machete series

In Machete, Isador "Machete" Cortez witnesses his wife and daughter being murdered by ruthless drug baron Rogelio Torrez (Steven Seagal). Three years later, he is seen working at a construction site in Texas. There, he is paid $150,000 by businessman Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey) to assassinate the anti-illegal immigration politician John McLaughlin (Robert De Niro). After getting shot in the neck before he can shoot McLaughlin, Machete realizes that he has been set up in a false-flag operation. Booth is revealed to be working with Torrez, a staunch supporter of McLaughlin's. Seeking vengeance, Machete kidnaps Booth's daughter and wife with the help of a few allies, and also takes down his henchmen. This eventually leads to a confrontation between Machete and his allies (mostly Mexican immigrants) and Torrez and his gang. Machete triumphs, leaving the criminals for dead.

Machete returns in Machete Kills, where he is employed by Rathcock (Charlie Sheen), the President of the United States, to foil a plan of world domination. The perpetrator is initially thought to be Mendez (Demián Bichir), a crazed revolutionary planning to missile-bomb the Congressional Palace. However, Machete finds out that the true mastermind is Luther Voz (Mel Gibson), who is keen on initiating rampage throughout the U.S. Machete finds Voz and foils his plans, but a now-disfigured Voz, having been burnt by Machete, escapes into outer space with his henchmen. Without hesitating, Machete agrees to track him down in space. The end of the film advertises a third Machete-led spin-off film entitled Machete Kills Again in Space.