One of the last remaining long-gestating comic book adaptations isRed Sonja, the sword-and-sorcery comic about the woman in the metal bikini with a big sword. The film remake—Brigitte Nielsen previously played Sonja in a 1985 film that is truly terrible—has been stewing for a while. The last we heard, Joey Solowaywas hired to replace Bryan Singeras the director, then, earlier this year, Tasha Huo wasbrought on board to co-writeSoloway。好像最后的齿轮ly turning onRed Sonjaas the creative team has been assembled and Sonja has been cast. Hannah John-Kamen will play Red Sonja. I am SUPER into this.
While I still believe SOMEONE should cast Kathryn Winnick to play a superhero, John-Kamen is the kind of unexpected casting that gives me hope thatRed Sonjawon’t be a total mess. She’s best known as Ghost inAnt-Man and the Wasp, but she’s got a lot of British TV on her resume, too, includingHappy Valley,The Tunnel, andKilljoys, as well as prestige stuff likeGame of ThronesandBrave New World(although I don’t think anyone actually watchedBrave New World). I don’t think anyone had John-Kamen on their Red Sonja bingo card, but the more unexpectedRed Sonjafeels, the better I like it. This character has an intriguing publication history, rooted in the pulp adventure stories of the 1930s—like Indiana Jones—but Sonja is probably best known as theHeavy Metal-influenced babe in the metal bikini.
Since the more exploitative take on Sonja won’t fly anymore—thank god—reinterpreting the character in the 2020s is pretty much a license to do anything, and I like that, so far, it feels like this is the exact approach. I don’t know what to expect fromRed Sonja, except that I like every person hired to work on the project so far, and Avi Lerner, the producer who attempted to support Bryan Singer as the director even after that became untenable, seems to have been demoted out of the creative ranks of the project. He’s still listed an executive producer because he’s the CEO of Millennium Films, one of the companies behindRed Sonja, but the film now has a new roster of producers. I have lived half in terror of aRed Sonjaremake for over a decade, and for the first time, I am starting to believe this won’t be a total disaster.
