What we know about the Red Sonja movie: Cast, Crew, Locations & Costumes

Hannah John-Kamen has been cast as Red Sonja. Depending on your fandom, you might know her from Game of Thrones, Ant-Man and the Wasp, or Killjoys. She’s also been the lead in the series The Stranger and Brave New World. Reactions have ranged from calling her casting perfect to howls of protests from racist nerds. See, John-Kamen has a black father, and well, how dare she. It’s like there’s a paint swatch of acceptable colors to play characters. She can dye her hair red, relax people. They are missing the far more important question: How tall is she?

Red Sonja is supposed to be six foot tall. John-Kamen? 5’6”. Sonja should be sexy, but also physically imposing. On the other hand, in the 1985 Red Sonja, they got a tall actress--Bridget Nielsen is freaking 6’1”--and she went on to “win” the Golden Raspberry for Worst New Star. So maybe worrying about height is as silly as being annoyed about skin tone. Hopefully some movie magic will be used to make her appear tall though.

The movie is going to be directed by Joey Soloway, who is best known for creating the Amazon series Transparent. Soloway has said “I can’t wait to bring Red Sonja’s epic world to life. Exploring this powerful mythology and evolving what it means to be a heroine is an artistic dream come true.”

Soloway’s Instagram reveals some clues about what the movie may look like as there are posts of locations being scouted. One location that will likely be used is the Nu Boyana studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, which has been used for other historic pieces such as Spartacus.

The nearby village of Kladnitsa looks likely to be used for outdoor scenes. The village is on Vitosha mountain and has a Roman road running through it.

Lesbos Island in Greece is another location being scouted. Lesbos contains various sites that could be used in the film such as a petrified forest, the Castle of Mytilene, and a Roman aqueduct. There are sites like this all over the Aegean, the fact that production is specifically going to an island called Lesbos possibly hints at a direction the character of Sonja is going in the film.

Also on Soloway’s Instagram there is one image of Red Sonja, which is this one by Dacilio Costa. Should this be taken to be the character design for the film? Well, there’s reason to think it’s not and that reason is screenwriter Tasha Huo. Huo is the showrunner for the upcoming Tomb Raider series being made for Netflix’s anime division. On her podcast, Act Two, Huo talks about pitching for Red Sonja. She describes Red Sonja as traditionally wearing a “chainmail bikini” and you can hear her wincing as she says it (for the record, Sonja wears a scale mail bikini). Huo describes a vision of Red Sonja that is fantasy grounded in historical accuracy, gritty (all good so far) and not overly-sexualized (*sigh*). Steering away from the iron bikini makes no sense--that’s what Red Sonja is famous for. Imagine pitching a Batman movie but insisting that Bruce Wayne not wear the batsuit. Huo talks up how much she likes Gail Simone’s version of Red Sonja. Let’s look at Simone’s Red Sonja:

If I could use my modest clout to pitch a small (additional) consideration for the Red Sonja movie it would be this: have an appearance by brand VP and cosplay model Shannon Kingston. The hardcore fans will appreciate her being there.

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Buck Hardcastle is a Red Sonja devotee who would also like to appear in the Red Sonja movie if at all possible. I also have a pitch for a Red Sonja comic book story. You can read interviews with real life Red Sonja’s here. Also, internet, even if you strongly disagree with decisions made by anyone on the Red Sonja movie, please don't harass them, that's not helpful.