The Red Sonja reboot has found its lead in Ant-Man and the Wasp star Hannah John-Kamen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, John-Kamen has officially joined Millenneum's reboot of Red Sonja, based on the fan-favorite Conan the Barbarian character. The actor is best known for playing the villainous Ghost in the Ant-Man sequel along with roles in Tomb Raider, Ready Player One and the TV series Killjoys. Red Sonja will be directed by Joey Soloway, the creator and showrunner of Amazon's Transparent.
"Hannah is a very talented actress who we’ve been following for years and she IS Red Sonja," Soloway said. "Her range, sensibilities and strength are all qualities we have been looking for and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this journey together."
Created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, Red Sonja debuted in 1973's Conan the Barbarian #23 and was partly based on the character Red Sonya from Robert E. Howard's 1934 short story "The Shadow of the Vulture." In 2013, Gail Simone rebooted the character, portraying Sonja as a warrior seeking to avenge her family by hunting down the marauders who killed them. This version of Sonja typically resorted to booze and combat to deal with the trauma from her loss. The character got her own movie back in 1985 starring Brigitte Nielsen in the title role.
Earlier this year, Tasha Huo signed on to co-write the script with Soloway. Huo is the showrunner for Netflix's upcoming Tomb Raider animated series. John-Kamen, meanwhile, just wrapped production on Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. There have also been hints that Ghost could return to the MCU. But despite both the actor's and Conan's connections to the House of Ideas, Red Sonja is not owned by Marvel.
Soloway joined the project in 2019 as writer, director and executive producer. "I can really have so much fun with Red Sonja," they said at the time. "I see her a little bit more like the first kind of bad girl superhero. Sort of like the Batman of The Dark Knight or Deadpool, you know? The world is changing so much right now for superheroes, that I just really look forward to not only going to the edge of what I've ever written and directed before but to the edge of the genre as well."
Directed by Joey Soloway and based on the Dynamite Entertainment incarnation of the character, Red Sonja does not yet have a release date.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter