Red Sonja star Matilda Lutz has said the upcoming reboot will be more empowering and less eye candy than the original comic book.
While promoting her new movie Magpie at SXSW, Lutz shared details about Red Sonja’s production with Collider and praised the reboot’s director M.J. Bassett.
“It was a great experience. The prep and stunt rehearsals and horseback riding, [were all] things that I hadn’t done before, so the whole process of prepping was amazing. Working with MJ as a director was incredible,” Lutz said. “And what I think is different from what we know of Red Sonja is that it was very, and the comics as well, was very male gaze-oriented and this is a completely different story. It’s a very empowered woman, and that’s what I loved about the story. I don’t know yet when it’s coming out, but I’m very excited to see it. I haven’t seen anything yet.”
Part of what made Red Sonja a standout in the comics was the barbarian huntress’ iconic metal bikini. Though Lutz teased the change in direction for the character, she confirmed that the bikini remains part of the movie except “not as an exposure kind of like element.”
“I mean, it was the thing, you know, like even in costume rehearsals and building the whole costume was like, I felt very exposed. But what I love about it is that the bikini is used in a completely different way from the comics,” Lutz added. “So I’m excited to see what the audience is gonna think.”
Who is Red Sonja?
Based on the Marvel Comics character created by created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith, Red Sonja was introduced in the pages of Conan the Barbarian #23 (February 1973). Inspired by the character Red Sonya of Rogatino conceived by Conan creator Robert E. Howard, Sonja began as an innocent 21-year-old whose family gets slaughtered by mercenaries and gets assaulted in the process. Seeking revenge, Sonja is given extraordinary fighting skills by the red goddess Scáthach under the strict condition that she does not give herself up to any man unless they defeat her in combat.
Bassett’s reboot from Millennium Films will be the second big-screen adaptation of Red Sonja since the 1985 movie starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Lutz stars in the title role opposite Wallis Day, Robert Sheehan, Michael Bisping, and Veronica Ferres. Bassett directs from a screenplay by Tasha Huo.
Red Sonja does not have a release date.
