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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 Teleserye 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.

Darna
Also known as	Mars Ravelo's Darna Darna: The TV Series
Genre	Drama[lower-alpha 1] Action[lower-alpha 2] Fantasy[lower-alpha 3]
Based on	Darna by Mars Ravelo
Written by	Ma. Carmela Abaygar Hannah Rhocellhynnia H. Cruz Jasper Emmanuel A. Paras Jann Kayla C. Mendoza
Directed by	Chito S. Roño Avel E. Sunpongco Benedict Mique
Starring	Jane De Leon Joshua Garcia Janella Salvador Zaijan Jaranilla
Music by	Francis C. Concio
Opening theme	"Patuloy Lang Ang Lipad" by BGYO
Country of origin	Philippines
Original language	Filipino
No. of episodes	30 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Carlo L. Katigbak Cory V. Vidanes Laurenti M. Dyogi
Producers	Maya Aralar Marissa Kalaw
Production locations	ABS-CBN Soundstage, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan Metro Manila
Cinematography	Neil Daza
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	25-35 mimutes
Production companies	JRB Creative Production Mars Ravelo Komiks Characters Inc.
Distributor	ABS-CBN Entertainment
Release
Original network	Kapamilya Channel[lower-alpha 4]
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Original release	August 15, 2022 (2022-08-15) – present (present)
Chronology
Related shows	Darna (2005) Darna (2009)

ABS-CBN acquired the adaptation rights to Darna in June 14, 2011 alongside other comic creations of Ravelo, which was previously with GMA Network.[1] 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,[2] 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.[3]

Premise

When fragments of a green crystal scatter in the city and turn people into destructive monsters, Narda embraces her destiny as Darna—the mighty protector of the powerful stone from Planet Marte.[4]

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Jane De Leon[5] as Darna / Narda Custodio: a young emergency medical technician, who will take on the mantle of Darna from her mother.
• Joshua Garcia[6] as PSMS Brian Robles: a young police officer and EMT. He is Narda's love interest.
• Janella Salvador[7][8] as Valentina / Atty. Regina Vanguardia: a lawyer and civic crusader 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[9] 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[10][11] as Noah Vallesteros: the son of Mayor Zaldy Vallesteros who bullied Brian when they were younger. He later develops romantic feelings for Narda.

Supporting cast

• Rio Locsin[10] as Roberta Ferrer-Custodio: Narda and Ding's grandmother, Danilo's mother and Leonor's mother-in-law.
• Richard Quan[10] as Atty. Rex Vanguardia: Regina's strict and controlling father. Regina only wants to make him proud of her.
• Simon Ibarra[10] 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 for unknown reason.
• Levi Ignacio[10] as Dr. Rolando Villacruz: a scientist who studies alien presence on Earth. He poses as a street food vendor and is close to Narda and her family.
• 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.
• Kim Rodriguez[12] as Xandra: General Borgo's aide. She possesses superhuman strength, shown mastery in hand-to-hand combat and has shape-shifting abilities.
• Viveika Ravanes as Rubi Carbonell: neighbor of the Custodios.
• Zeppi Borromeo as Oleg Mendoza: neighbor of the Custodios.
• Gerard Acao as Pancho Paras: neighbor of the Custodios.
• Marvin Yap as Gardo Laracruz: neighbor of the Custodios.
• Joj Agpangan[10] as Mara Fernandez: Narda's bestfriend.
• Dawn Chang[13] as Maisha Rodriguez: Mayor Zaldy's secretary.
• Mark Manicad[10] as Ali: Regina's assistant who has secret feelings on her. He also discovered the transformation of Regina to Valentina.
• Young JV[10] as Andre : Narda and Brian's fellow EMT at Vanguardia Rescue.
• Joko Diaz as Hergis / Master Klaudio: one of General Borgo’s former allies.[14] 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 Brian's fellow EMT at Vanguardia Rescue.

Guest cast

• Iza Calzado[15] as Darna / Zora / Leonor Custodio: a “prime warrior” from Planet Marte. An EMT on Earth and the mother of Narda & Ding.[9] She is the original Darna who will pass on the magical stone to her daughter Narda before she is killed.[16]
• 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.[17]
• Jerald Napoles as Fredo Mitron / Strength Man: A former miner and the first "Extra" that Darna fought.[18] He possesses superhuman strength and can sustain any physical attacks that he uses to destroy anything at will.
• Dominic Ochoa as Engr. Javier Toledo / Lindol Man:[19] The second "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. 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:[20] The third "Extra". A former doctor, He kills his target using poisonous drug and he has a power to be invicible and pass through walls anytime he wants. His anger starts when his father was bullied in social media because his patient was died under his care.
• Neil Coleta as Vincent Eugenio/Clone Man:[21] The fourth "extra". His powers includes kinetic replication and limited teleportation which he uses to produce multiple clones of himself to either fight and escape.
• Boom Labrusca as Silent Shocker:[22] The fifth "extra".
• Jeric Raval as PEMS Bart Robles: a police officer and Brian's father.
• Bart Guingona as Mayor Emilio Baron: The incumbent mayor of Nueva Esperanza who, along with his Vice Mayor, died in a plane crash that was sabotaged by councilor Zaldy Vallesteros in order to seize power.
• 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.
• Bani 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: TV news reporter of Nueva Esperanza.
• Anne Feo as Dra. Ava Bartolome, the doctor who supports the suspension of Alex' 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.

Production

Development

Erik Matti signed to direct a new Darna film in 2014,[23][24] with Star Cinema and Matti's Reality Entertainment co-producing the project.[25] Matti stated that the film is aimed "to revive not just the people who knows [sic] Darna but also with the people who will know Darna for the first time."[26] 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.[27] 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.[27][28] Angel Locsin, who played Darna in the 2005 TV series, agreed to reprise her role when approached by Matti.[23][29] Locsin was forced out of the project following a back injury in October 2015, however, much to the consternation of Matti.[24][30]

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.[25] 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".[26] In addition, Matti uploaded a teaser photo in January 2016 of a hooded woman to Instagram.[25][26] Around this time, the lead actress for the role of Darna had yet to be revealed.[25]

Sources reported that Matti had begun principal photography on the film in March 2018, starting with the "simpler scenes".[31][32] 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.[33] On October 5, 2018, Jerrold Tarog came on board to replace Matti.[34] 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".[35]

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.[36]

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.[37] It's said that the film will push through once the series is finished.[38]

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.[24] 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.[39] On July 17, 2019, Jane De Leon was unanimously chosen from a pool of over 300 actresses who auditioned.[40]

On February 6, 2020, Leo Dominguez, Paulo Avelino's manager, confirmed that Avelino has been cast in the film.[41][42][43] Tarog later confirmed Avelino's casting during a fundraiser.[44]

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.[45][46] 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.[10] On November 19, 2021, Janella Salvador was formally introduced as the one who will play the titular heroine's nemesis, Valentina.[47] 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.[11] On March 3, 2022, Dawn Chang was cast in an undisclosed role.[13] Christian Bables is the latest addition to the series.[48]

Filming

Principal photography for the film began on January 19, 2020,[49] shot at ABS-CBN Soundstage in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.[50][51] 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 (₱140 million) and the coronavirus pandemic."[52][53]

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,[54] but due to De Leon guesting on the series FPJ's Ang Probinsyano, filming for the series was postponed.[55][56] 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".[57]

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.[58] On October 4, 2021, ABS-CBN announced that Chito S. Roño will direct the series.[59] Avel Sunpongco will act as co-director and Keiko Aquino as head writer.[60][61] Roño envisions the series to be less soapy and more gritty and real.[62] Principal photography for the series officially commenced on November 15, 2021, at the ABS-CBN Soundstage.[63][64][65][4][66]

Marketing

On December 21, 2020, a teaser was shown in the "Together as One in 2021" video.[54] 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.[67][68] 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.[69] On July 7, 2022, the official trailer has been released.[70]

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.[71]

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.[72]

On July 6, 2022, an official teaser poster was released, hinting some hidden Easter eggs for the series.[73]

On July 10, 2022, Jane de Leon, Joshua Garcia and Zaijian Jaranilla visited the ToyCon PH 2022 event at SM Megamall.[74][75][76]

On July 28, 2022, the Darna character made rooftop appearances in several Robinsons Malls in Metro Manila and in ABS-CBN's ELJ Communications Center.[77]

On August 13, 2022, majority of the cast members went to Taguig City to promote the series.

Music

On July 28, 2022, BGYO were announced to sing the original soundtrack of the series, entitled "Patuloy Lang Ang Lipad".[78] It was officially released on August 14, 2022.[79]

On September 6 2022, producer Julie Anne R. Benitez confirmed that there are three more songs to be released for the soundtrack.^{[citation needed]}

Darna's powers and abilities

Everytime Narda Custodio swallows the mythical stone, she transforms into the mighty warrior Darna, which possesses supernatural abilities including enhanced strength & speed, flight, swiftly dodge bullets and immunity to man-made weapons.[80]

• Enhanced Strength: Darna is capable of lifting massive debris with one hand, throw enemies several miles away and crush man-made weapons like gun in seconds.
• Enhanced Reflexes: Darna can swiftly dodge and maneuver around complex attacks. She was able to used this skill to dodge attacks from Master Klaudio/Hergis during their first encounter.
• Enhanced Speed: Darna also has a wide range of speed levels. She can move from one place to another in a matter of seconds. This is one of her most used ability which she utilized to either chase or attack her opponents.
• Invulnerability: Darna is immune to all forms of physical attacks and has a high level of survivability. She can sustain grenade explosions and bullet attacks.
• Skilled Combatant: Trained by the Prime warrior from Planet Marte, Darna has shown mastery in hand-to-hand battle combat used for both offense and defense.
• Flight: Darna is also blessed with the ability to flight at great heights.

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).[81] Additionally, the series also became the most watched show on iWantTFC after debuting at the top five in its premiere on August 15, 2022.[82] 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.[83]

Pre-debut

External video
The official full trailer for Darna was released in July 7, 2022
Darna Official Trailer

The official trailer for Darna has garnered over 4 million views in less than 24 hours across all leading social media platforms, gaining one million views on Facebook in just 4 hours.[84] Meanwhile, the official hashtag #DarnaTrailer immediately shot to the top of Twitter Philippines' trending list and remained there the next day.[84]

Pilot week

The comeback of the beloved comic superhero was well received by the public. Upon its first airing in both television and digital platforms, the official tag #Darna immediately became a No. 1 trending topic on Twitter in the Philippines and worldwide. On YouTube, the series also drew a stunning 296,334 concurrent live viewers throughout the entire run of the first episode.[85]

The second episode of the series managed to maintain consistent numbers, with over 250,000 concurrent live viewers at peak on YouTube and dominated the trending list of Twitter Philippines, with the tag #FirstDarna occupying the second spot.[86] The series kept its momentum in the following days for each episode up until Narda's transformation as the iconic pinoy comic superheroine Darna, where it became the No. 1 trending topic nationwide and second across the world on Twitter.[87]

Darna transformation

External image
The Official Poster for Mars Ravelo's Darna Jane de Leon stuns in her Darna costume

The much-anticipated transformation of Narda as the mighty warrior Darna was highly praised by both critics and audiences. The official tag of Episode 5 (#LipadDarna) immediately shot to the top spot of Twitter nationwide and second worldwide with more than 60,000 tweets within its first 14 hours.[88][89]

The “Valentina” transformation

External video
Regina transforming as the serpent queen, Valentina.
Regina transforms into Valentina
Ali fears Valentina

Following Janella Salvador's transformation as Darna's archnemesis "Valentina",[90] the official tag of Episode 14 (#DarnaValentina) immediately shot to the top spot of Twitter Philippines with more than 16,000+ tweets. It was met with praises from both critics and fans.[91] Prior to the much awaited transformation, Salvador had several guest appearances on several TV channels, including TV5, PIE Channel, CNN Philippines, It's Showtime and on TV Patrol’s Star Patrol segment.[92] On YouTube, the episode peaked at 210,000+ live concurrent viewers, besting its rival show by a landslide.[92]

Critical response

Ryan Oquiza of Rappler gave a positive review for the premiere of the series calling it "a gritty, modern retelling" that has 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.[93]

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.[93]

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 Joshua Garcia, Iza Calzado & Jane de Leon. He emphasized Garcia as the standout and the heart of the series, as well as emphasizing that Calzado gives the character weight and “exudes an aura of authority.”[94]

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.[95]

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.[96]

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

Notes

References

External links

• Official Website
• Darna at IMDb

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