Darna (upcoming Film)

''Mars Ravelo's Darna'' (or simply ''Darna'') is a Philippine superhero series broadcast by Kapamilya Channel. The series is based on Mars Ravelo's Philippine fictional character of the same name. Directed by Chito S. Roño, Avel Sunpongco and Benedict Mique, it stars Jane De Leon in the titular role. The series premiered on Kapamilya Channel's ''Primetime Bida'' evening block, A2Z, TV5's ''Todo Max Primetime Singko'', and worldwide on The Filipino Channel on August 15, 2022, replacing ''FPJ's Ang Probinsyano''.

ABS-CBN acquired the adaptation rights to ''Darna'' on June 14, 2011, alongside other comic creations of Ravelo, which was previously with GMA Network. The network originally planned for a feature film adaptation to be made under the Star Cinema banner, starring Angel Locsin as Darna and directed by Erik Matti, but the project underwent a decade-long " development hell" due to regular cast and crew changes and script rewrites. Upon De Leon's casting as Darna in 2019, principal photography began the next year, but due to a soaring budget, the project was repurposed into a teleserye, developed for television by Dindo C. Perez (creative head), and Julie Anne R. Benitez (supervising producer) with a feature film still planned for release after the series finale.

Alongside its television broadcast, the series is released on the streaming service iWantTFC, as well as on YouTube for limited periods.

Premise

In a hopeless and corrupt city plagued by criminals with special powers, a young woman finds the ability to defend the people using a powerful stone that turns her into the superhero, Darna.

In fulfilling her mission, complications arise to test her courage and inner strength. As Darna tries to embrace her role as the people's superhero, her sacrifices inspire ordinary people and awaken their own hero within.

Cast and characters

;Main cast
* Jane De Leon as Darna / Narda Custodio: a young emergency medical technician, and the successor of Leonor/Zora as the protector of the mythical stone. She is also a master of Kali Martial Arts.
*Joshua Garcia as Brian Robles / ''Dark Brian'': a young police officer and EMT. He once falls into a trap set by his own doppelganger named "Dark Brian." He is Narda's love interest.
*Janella Salvador as Valentina / Atty. Regina Vanguardia: a lawyer and social media personality whose alter ego, Valentina, is cursed with living, venomous snakes for her hair. Valentina is Darna's archenemy. Regina has romantic feelings for Brian.
*Zaijian Jaranilla as Ricardo "Ding" Custodio: Narda's younger brother and sidekick, Ding is skillful with technology and computer games. He is also gifted with super vision.
*Paolo Gumabao as Noah Vallesteros: the son of Mayor Zaldy Vallesteros who bullied Brian when they were younger. He later develops romantic feelings for Narda. He turned into an extra after his father injected him a serum which he got in facility for extras. As an extra, his source of power is Pyrokinesis making him to create and control fire anytime he wants.

;Supporting cast
*Rio Locsin as Roberta Ferrer-Custodio: Narda and Ding's grandmother; Danilo's mother and Leonor's mother-in-law.
*Richard Quan as General Borgo / Atty. Rex Vanguardia: An extraterrestrial invader from Planet Ludo. Disguising himself as Atty. Vanguardia, he is Regina's strict and controlling father. He killed the real Rex Vanguardia in order to watch over his most powerful weapon, Valentina. One of his defining power is his shapeshifting abilities.
*Simon Ibarra as Mayor Zaldy Vallesteros: the former councilor of Nueva Esperanza who set up the death of the incumbent mayor and vice mayor in order to seize the mayoralty position. He despises his son Noah, blaming him for the death of his wife, Noah's mother.
*Levi Ignacio as Dr. Rolando Villalobos: a scientist who studies alien presence on Earth. He poses as a street food vendor and is close to Narda and her family. He replaced Dr. Ibarra as scientist of facility for extras after he was killed by Darna.
*Jeffrey Santos as PEMS Ernie Antiporda: a police officer from Sierra Grande who reassigns himself back to Nueva Esperanza to guide his godson, Brian.
*Eric Fructuoso as PEMS Arthur Pineda: a corrupt police officer in Nueva Esperanza, who despise the Robleses. He is responsible for killing Brian's father.
*Kim Rodriguez as Xandra / Ishna: General Borgo's aide. She possesses superhuman strength, shown mastery in hand-to-hand combat and has shape-shifting abilities.
*Joj Agpangan as Mara Carbonell: Narda's bestfriend.
*Viveika Ravanes as Rubi Carbonell: a neighbor of the Custodios and Mara's sister.
*Zeppi Borromeo as Oleg Mendoza: a barangay watchman and a neighbor of the Custodios.
*Gerard Acao as Pancho Paras: a tricycle driver and a neighbor of the Custodios.
*Marvin Yap as Gardo Laracruz: a tricycle driver and a neighbor of the Custodios. He used to be a thief with Vince as a kid, until Narda's mother, Leonor, gave him the opportunity to change his own life for the better.
*Dawn Chang as Maisha Rodriguez: Mayor Zaldy's secretary. She also serves as eye and ear of Madam Victoria/General Borgo in the city hall.
*Mark Manicad as Ali: Regina's bodyguard who has secret feelings on her. Aside from General Borgo/Rex Vanguardia, He is the only one to know that Regina and Valentina is the same person.
*Young JV as Andre: Narda and Brian's fellow EMT at Vanguardia Rescue. Dr. Ibarra's men kidnapped him that turns him into an extra.
*Joko Diaz as Hergis / Master Klaudio: one of General Borgo's former allies. He possesses shapeshifting abilities, enhanced vision and has shown mastery in hand-to-hand combat. He is the one who killed Leonor.
*L.A. Santos as Richard: Narda and Andre's fellow EMT at Vanguardia Rescue. He discovered Narda's identity as Darna after witnessing her transformation.

;Guest cast
*Iza Calzado as Darna / Zora / Leonor Custodio†: a “prime warrior” from Planet Marte. An EMT on Earth and the mother of Narda & Ding. She is the original Darna who will pass on the magical stone to her daughter Narda before she is killed.
*Joem Bascon as Danilo Custodio†: the husband of Leonor and the father of Narda and Ding. He died before the events of the series took place. He created a comic book, which he left to his family as a way of telling his children Darna's (Zora's) origins.
*Jerald Napoles as Fredo Mitron† / ''Strength Man''†: A former miner which possesses superhuman strength and can sustain any physical attacks and uses it to destroy anything at will.
*Dominic Ochoa as Engr. Javier Toledo† / ''Lindol Man''†: Another "extra" who is an engineer. He wants to reveal about the corruption behind the building of a facility using substandard materials. But Mayor's men stopped him by burying him alive by filling concrete cement on him while unconscious. His powers includes the ability to control and manifest earthquakes at will. He also has telekinesis/geokinesis that he once used to lift big stones to attack the goons.
*Christian Bables as Dr. Alex dela Torre†/ ''Killer Ghost''†: An "extra" who is a former doctor. He kills his target using poisonous drug and he has a power to be invisible and pass through walls anytime he wants. His anger starts when his father was bullied in social media because his patient died under his care. He was killed by Brian.
*Neil Coleta as Vincent Eugenio†/''Clone Man''†: A member of El Diablo. But because of Annie, who became his inspiration to change, he decided to left the organization for good. But Ishna turned him into an "extra" by telling him that there is someone who wants to kill him when he left the organization. His powers includes kinetic replication and limited teleportation which he uses to produce multiple clones of himself to either fight and escape. He is Gardo's childhood bestfriend. He was killed by Valentina.
*Boom Labrusca as Angelo Villacorta /''Silent Shocker'': An "extra". His powers includes Electrokinesis which he uses to disrupt and control anything that uses electricity. He can also form an energy shield using electricity to defend himself for attacks like bullets. His wife and child was killed in an ambush that makes him to support Valentina's way of giving justice by killing criminals.
*Loren Burgos as Prof. Luisa Espritu/''Human Urchin'': An "extra". A teacher who stabbed to death by the two men who robbed and molested her, she resurrected as an extra with the power of summoning black spikes of sizes which has the same components to human bones.
*Karl Gabriel as Inno Camarin/''Dragon Mouth'': An "extra". A member of the X-Triad (play on ''extra'' and ''triad''). He spits acid fluid and melts anything it lands into.
*Jef Gaitan as Klara Balisi/''Seductress'': An "extra". A member of the X-Triad, who has the power of hypnotism that she uses to disable her target mentally (specifically men) and command them to do as she pleases.
*Henz Villaraiz as Miguel Lagdameo/''Boy Chop-Chop'': An "extra". A member of the X-Triad who can detach his hands from his body. He once used this to ability to steal siopao from a store. He is also Lola Trining's missing grandson.
*Enchong Dee as Elijah "Eli" Torres/Levitator: An "extra". A journalist who is constantly bullied because of being a son of a killer. Because of this, he attempted to kill himself but Luisa stopped him. His main source of power is Telekinesis.
*Kira Balinger as Luna: a skilled warrior from Planet Marte. She was heavily trained for battle by Zora and had ambitions of becoming the successor of her mentor as the protector of the mythical stone. Some of her powers and abilities includes enhanced strength, agility & reflexes, flight, mastery in all forms of combat and enhanced speed.
*Jeric Raval as SPO4 Jaime Mercado Robles†: a dignified police officer of Nueva Esperanza, and Brian's father.
*Bart Guingona as Mayor Emilio Baron†: The mayor of Nueva Esperanza who, along with his vice mayor, died in a plane crash sabotaged by councilor Zaldy Vallesteros in order to seize power.
*Lito Pimentel as Dr. Florentino Ibarra: He is the scientist in-charge of the facility for the Extras. He was killed after fighting with Darna.
*Hannah Ledesma as Annie: Tricia and Ding's teacher. She was Vince's inspiration to change for good. She was then kidnapped by Dr. Ibarra's men to use her as his test subject.
*Alireza Libre as Roger Veluz: The man who brought bomb inside the mall with himself because he wants to talk to the mall owner. He did that to give justice to the death of his entire family.
*Giovanni Baldiserri as Dr. Armando Feliciano: the head of Vanguardia Rescue. He is responsible for the death of Alex's father.
*Jenny Jamora as Sally Toledo: Javier's pregnant wife who is looking for him after he mysteriously vanish, she gave birth by the help of Narda.
*Lloyd Zaragoza as Arnold Bautista†: a notorious carnapper of Nueva Esperanza. He asked money to Ali in exchange of his silence but he was killed by Regina/Valentina.
*Joshua Colet as Sigfried Cruz: the popular TV news reporter of Nueva Esperanza.
*Dwin Araza as Juanito: a TV talk show host of ''Juan On Juan'' along with Juancho.
*Mike Liwag as Juancho: a TV talk show host of ''Juan On Juan'' along with Juanito.
*Anne Feo as Dra. Ava Bartolome†: The doctor who supported the suspension of Alex's father when his patient died under his care became viral in social media. Because of this, she was killed by Alex by injecting her poisonous drug.
*Lui Manansala as Trining Lagdameo: Miguel's grandmother who Narda aided when she pass out in the street.
*Carla Martinez as Victoria Villacerran: a rich woman who invest much in Nueva Esperanza. She is actually General Borgo's disguise.
*Mutya Orquia as Patricia Romero: Ding's classmate who has interest about Extras.

Production

Development

Erik Matti signed to direct a new Darna film in 2014, with Star Cinema and Matti's Reality Entertainment co-producing the project. Matti stated that the film is aimed "to revive not just the people who Darna but also with the people who will know Darna for the first time." Producing a unique storyline posed a challenge to the director, as he did not want to be accused of copying from other big superhero movies such as those produced by Marvel Studios. Matti envisioned the film, to be titled ''Darna'', as a coming-of-age story that is serious in tone (similar to that of ''The Dark Knight Trilogy'') but with gore aplenty. Angel Locsin, who played Darna in the 2005 TV series, agreed to reprise her role when approached by Matti. Locsin was forced out of the project following a back injury in October 2015, however, much to the consternation of Matti.

A teaser trailer for ''Darna'' was shown during the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival, whose visual effects were provided by Mothership VFX, the same company that worked on some of Matti's earlier films. According to Matti, the teaser was released ahead of the then-upcoming 2016 election as a ruse to make audiences think that Matti's next film was "politics-related". In addition, Matti uploaded a teaser photo in January 2016 of a hooded woman to Instagram. Around this time, the lead actress for the role of Darna had yet to be revealed.

Sources reported that Matti had begun principal photography on the film in March 2018, starting with the "simpler scenes". On October 4, 2018, however, ABS-CBN released a press statement announcing that Matti had parted ways with the network as well as Star Cinema "due to creative differences", and that the studio was closing in on a new director. On October 5, 2018, Jerrold Tarog came on board to replace Matti. In December 2018, Tarog revealed that he had begun working on a new script and costume for the film, the latter he said would be "more practical".

Tarog has said he would retain Matti's vision of making the film a coming-of-age story while also creating a more nuanced origin story that deviates from the previous ''Darna'' films and their source comic, which he felt "rushes Darna's origins". He also added that his version will eschew the "campy" portrayal of most Filipino superheroes in favor of telling a nuanced and introspective story where the actions of the superhero have consequences in the real world.

With the postponed production of the film, ABS-CBN announced on December 4, 2020, that it will develop a television series titled ''Mars Ravelo's Darna'' slated to air in 2022 and starring Jane de Leon. It's said that the film will push through once the series is finished.

Casting

While ''Darna'' was still in development as a film, several actresses had auditioned to replace Locsin when she backed out in 2015, including Liza Soberano, KC Concepcion, Jessy Mendiola, Nadine Lustre, Sarah Lahbati, and Sarah Geronimo. Soberano replaced Locsin by May 2017. In April 2019, however, ABS-CBN released a press statement announcing that Soberano had left the project due to a finger bone injury she acquired during production for the network's 2018 TV series ''Bagani'', and that the studio had begun casting on a new actress. On July 17, 2019, Jane De Leon was unanimously chosen from a pool of over 300 actresses who auditioned.

On February 6, 2020, Leo Dominguez, Paulo Avelino's manager, confirmed that Avelino has been cast in the film. Tarog later confirmed Avelino's casting during a fundraiser.

Even as the film was reconceived as a television series, De Leon was kept on board to portray the titular character for the series. On August 12, 2021, Iza Calzado was cast to portray the first Darna and Narda's mother. On October 5, 2021, Kiko Estrada, Richard Quan, Simon Ibarra, Levi Ignacio, Joj Agpangan, Mark Manicad, Young JV, LA Santos, Yogo Singh, Zeppi Borromeo, Marvin Yap, Tart Carlos, and Gerald Acao were announced as cast additions including Joshua Garcia as the male lead and Zaijian Jaranilla as Ding. On November 19, 2021, Janella Salvador was formally introduced as the one who will play the titular heroine's nemesis, Valentina. On February 17, 2022, behind the scenes photos revealed Paolo Gumabao has joined the cast of Darna. On March 1, 2022, Gumabao was confirmed to have taken over Kiko Estrada's role as Noah Vallesteros. On March 3, 2022, Dawn Chang was cast in an undisclosed role. Christian Bables is the latest addition to the series.

Filming

Principal photography for the film began on January 19, 2020, shot at ABS-CBN Soundstage in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. However, on August 21, 2020, ABS-CBN officially postponed production on the film due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a week after the network announced that it had "scrapped" the project "because of the film's big budget () and the coronavirus pandemic."

On December 4, 2020, during the contract signing of Star Magic artists, it was announced that the ''Darna'' film project will become a TV series in 2021. On December 21, 2020, during the teaser for ''Darna'' in the "Together as One in 2021" video, De Leon said that filming will start in January 2021, but due to De Leon guesting on the series ''FPJ's Ang Probinsyano'', filming for the series was postponed. On February 5, 2021, during a press conference, De Leon stated that the new ''Darna'' project will be very modern and her Darna character will be very "millennial".

On July 28, 2021, ABS-CBN announced that the series will start filming in early September 2021 but the schedule was changed to November to give more training time for De Leon, meanwhile De Leon is filming her remaining episodes on her guest role in ''Ang Probinsyano.'' On October 4, 2021, ABS-CBN announced that Chito S. Roño will direct the first two weeks of the series. Avel Sunpongco will act as co-director and Keiko Aquino as head writer. Roño envisions the series to be less soapy and more gritty and real. Principal photography for the series officially commenced on November 15, 2021, at the ABS-CBN Soundstage.

Marketing

On December 21, 2020, a teaser was shown in the "Together as One in 2021" video. On December 19, 2021, a 45-second teaser was shown on the ABS-CBN Christmas Special 2021 together with their other upcoming projects for 2022. On May 16, 2022, a new 45-second teaser which has the same clips plus additional scenes that were not in the last teaser was released on social media. On July 7, 2022, the official trailer has been released.

On June 13, 2022, a tease image went viral after ABS-CBN's social media pages temporarily changed their profile and cover photos to a different logo which resembles Darna's headdress which indicates that it's nearing its premiere. The tease image asks "Nasaan si Darna?" ("Where is Darna?") which made it viral. It gathered a lot of reaction as well as people commenting their excitement for the show, some having witty responses, while others doing photos with their Darna costumes.

On June 16, 2022, a Darna mural was unveiled to showcase empowerment, heroism, and hope dedicated to the frontliners and everyday heroes. The mural also represents a hero on every person bringing hope and positivity to uncertainties and realities.

On July 6, 2022, an official teaser poster was released.

Music

On July 28, 2022, BGYO were announced to sing the original soundtrack of the series, entitled "Patuloy Lang Ang Lipad". It was officially released on August 14, 2022.

On September 6, 2022, producer Julie Anne R. Benitez confirmed that there are three more songs to be released for the soundtrack.

International

''Mars Ravelo's Darna'' of ABS-CBN Entertainment will be featured at Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) in Singapore for the 2nd annual TV Asia Screenings Festival, alongside other hit series starred by Kathryn Bernardo & Daniel Padilla, Piolo Pascual & Lovi Poe and more.

Reception

''Darna'' was a commercial success across all leading digital platforms. The pilot week has accumulated more than 41 million combined views on YouTube. The series has consistently averaged around 230,000 live concurrent views per episode (compared to its rival Lolong with 14,000) on YouTube. Additionally, the series also became the most watched show on iWantTFC after debuting at the top five in its premiere on August 15, 2022. ''Darna'' also rosed as the most searched show on Google, taking around 80% of all web searches in its first week, maintaining a huge lead against the four other local primetime dramas.

In November 2022, ABS-CBN Corporate reported that ''Darna,'' with its 'Week 12' episodes has accumulated over 15 million combined views on YouTube alone (Oct. 31 to Nov. 4), while the week prior (Oct. 24 to Oct. 28) earned more than 15.7 million total views on the platform.

Pre-debut

The official trailer for ''Darna'' has garnered over 5 million views in less than 24 hours across all leading social media platforms, gaining one million views on Facebook in just 4 hours. Meanwhile, the official hashtag #DarnaTrailer immediately shot to the top of Twitter Philippines' trending list and remained there the next day.

Weekend debut

The pilot episode was well received by audiences. Upon its first airing on both television and digital platforms, the Twitter hashtag ''#Darna'' became the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter Philippines and worldwide. On YouTube, the series also drew 296,334 concurrent live viewers throughout its entire run of the first episode.

The second episode maintained consistent numbers, amassing over 250,000 concurrent live viewers on YouTube, and became a trending topic on Twitter Philippines, with the tag ''#FirstDarna'' occupying the second spot. The series maintained its viewership in the following days up until Narda's transformation in a later episode, which became the No. 1 trending topic nationwide and second worldwide on Twitter.

Critical response

Ryan Oquiza of Rappler gave a positive review for the premiere of the series calling it "a gritty, modern retelling" that has the potential to even soar higher. Furthermore, he also stated that the ''Darna'' series also presents an intriguing story of maturation that rewards injustice and penalizes heroism. Oquiza also praised the performances of Iza Calzado, Janella Salvador and Jane De Leon. He described Calzado as the one who stole the show stating that her portrayal as the "''First Darna''" possesses the gravitas of Angel Locsin and the bravado of Anjanette Abayari.

Mike Diez from The Philippine Star also praised the series and gave compliments to the pacing of the story, how its origin was introduced and the performances of Iza Calzado, Jane de Leon and Joshua Garcia. He emphasized that Calzado gives the character weight and “exudes an aura of authority.” The Ravelo family said that ABS-CBN is the best platform for ''Darna'', emphasizing the quality of their works and of all the options that they had, the network remains to be the best choice for the comic superheroine and the rights to 13 other comic characters created by Mars Ravelo.

The series also made rounds outside the country. A recent review by a viewer from Indonesia praised the show, emphasizing the acting prowess of the casts, its quality and said that he liked this version better (including Darna's warrior costume) than the last two TV adaptations from the rival network.

Experts review

The Biodiversity Conservation Society of the Philippines applauded ABS-CBN's take on the snake-haired supervillainess, Valentina. It has said to have showcased different kinds of “snake morphospecies”, in which two of Valentina's snakes resembles the Philippine Pit Viper and the Samar Cobra. Further adding: “While we don’t entirely approve of the common association between snakes and villainy in stories, ''this new Valentina’s snake-do nicely mirrors the rich diversity of snakes (about 140 species) that we have in the country''.”

Ratings

Despite limited reach on free TV, Kantar Media Philippines reported that the pilot episode of the series ruled its timeslot, attaining a reported 19.4% in Mega Manila and 23% in Metro Manila. The series also rated 21.9% in Total Visayas and 22.2% in Rural Visayas.

AGB Neilsen Philippines also reported that the series received a rating of 10.5% during its premiere on August 15, placing it in the 5th spot of the rating board.

Accolades

See also

*List of programs broadcast by Kapamilya Channel
*List of programs broadcast by A2Z (Philippine TV channel)
* List of Mars Ravelo's Darna (2022 TV series) episodes
* Narda Custodio

Notes

References

External links

Official Website
*

{{Portal bar, Philippines, Comics, Television}

Darna
2020s Philippine television series
2022 Philippine television series debuts
ABS-CBN drama series
Alien invasions in television
Fantaserye and telefantasya
Filipino-language television shows
Philippine action television series
Philippine fantasy television series
Philippine teen drama television series
Philippine television series
Serial drama television series
Superhero television series
Teen superhero television series
Television series about teenagers
Television shows based on comics
Television shows set in the Philippines