Just three days after Liza Soberano was confirmed to play Darna in Erik Matti’s long anticipated film on the iconic Filipino superheroine, two other actresses are being rumored to join the project.
Unconfirmed reports are pointing that Anne Curtis and Iza Calzado will play two of Darna’s antagonists in the coming movie. Neither Anne nor Iza has confirmed their participation in the project on their social media pages while Matti himself has not posted any additional information outside of Liza’s casting on his Facebook page as well.
Both actresses, however, have been included on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry of “Darna” as rumored cast members.
Anne and Iza have been identified with “Darna” at one point in their respective careers. Anne — who is said to be stepping in the shoes of Darna’s snake-haired arch enemy, Valentina — was rumored as a Darna candidate herself as recently as last March when she teased that she was working on a new film with Matti, which later turned out to be the action thriller “Buy Bust.”
Since she already has a working relationship with Matti, it may not come as a surprise for the acclaimed filmmaker to cast her again in “Darna.”
If Anne ends up playing Valentina in “Darna,” she will join a long list of distinguished actresses who have played the character in the past, including Celia Rodriguez, Pilar Pilapil, Pilita Corrales, Cherie Gil, Alessandra de Rossi and Iwa Moto.
Iza, on the other hand, was attached to the “Darna” fantaserye that GMA Network produced back in 2005. In an interview with talk show host Boy Abunda in 2014, Iza admitted that she was offered the role back then and underwent cosmetic surgery to lose weight as part of her preparation.
Angel Locsin, however, was eventually cast as Darna for the series.
In 2015, Iza was again rumored to be playing Valentina for the coming film but denied the reports that came out then.
Although Darna has a rich rogues gallery like other superheroes, Valentina and the Babaeng Tuod or Wood Witch are the most popular and have appeared the most in Darna’s film and TV incarnations.
Created in 1947 by legendary komiks storyteller Mars Ravelo in collaboration with artist Nestor Redondo, Darna is regarded as the Philippines’ answer to DC Comics’ own Wonder Woman.
In the serialized komiks novels, a crippled young woman named Narda transforms into the superpowered Darna upon shouting her name backwards after swallowing a mystical white stone.
