Red Sonja Returns: director Mj Barrett and Star Matilda Lutz on the reimming of a warrior icon for a new era

The legend of the sword Red Sonja He is returning to the screen with a new bold socket. Directed by Mj barrett and interpreted Matilda LutzThe last cinematographic adaptation of the classic comic heroine revives the character with determination, heart and a new perspective.

Debut on Digital on August 29, this version of Red Sonja The kitsch of past interpretations is strips and digs deep into what makes the warrior woman endure.

Fans of the character will remember her from the racing of the 70s of Marvel or even his previous origins in the fiction of Robert E. Howard, but Barrett’s vision is far from nostalgic. It is a ferociously personal reimagination, modeled by the director’s journey.

“I was familiar Super-Duper,” explained Barrett, remembering a passion for life for Howard’s imagination and work. “I knew Red Sonja From the story “Shadow of the Vulture” … and I grew up with Roy Thomas in the Marvel race in Sonja, where this character of a very male gaze was, very male in this bikini of chain. “

But Barrett never wanted to recreate 1985 Red Sonja Movies. “It wasn’t my version of Sonja,” he said. “From that moment, he was always part of my ambition … I knew I wanted to do fantasy, and there were some characters with whom I really wanted to try to work.”

In almost two decades of blocked productions and changing directors – from Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan to Bryan Singer and Joey Soloway – Barrett continued to go back. “I went, ‘give me alone. I am the most qualified person who can do it. I understand it … I spent these transformations.'”

One of his first and most crucial decisions was to find the right person to embody Sonja. That person was Matilda Lutz.

“It’s really cheap. I mean, this is the main reason,” Barrett joked before becoming serious. “This woman has many abilities. I can see that there may be power, there may be pain, there may be humor and humility – all the things you are looking for … but the truth is that all those things can be learned. What cannot be learned is compassion and humanity that must exist in the center of the character.”

Lutz, known for his work in Vendettaimmediately connected to the script. “It’s a warrior, but it’s also a survivor,” said Lutz. “It is identity … he also worries about animals and the forest in which he lives. I think these are all messages that I really want to see in the movies more and more.”

While the physical needs of the role were discouraged with the sword that fight, the riding, the arrows to shoot during the gallop, Lutz embraced him. “I grew up with sport with three brothers, fighting for life,” he said. “It was very funny.”

There is also a moment in the film that clears directly to the fans who are familiar with the iconic bikini of Sonja chain, a long criticized outfit for its impracticability.

Barrett leaned on that absurdity. “He had to be something imposed who then embraced … literally, Sonja says:” What does it protect? ” AND [the armorer] He says: “Nothing, but the crowd will love it.”

It is a moment of smart humor, but also one who speaks in the center of the film. “Everything that happens to her and every decision it takes, eventually has,” said Barrett. “Imagine what I can do when I’m completely authorized.”

For Lutz, that Empowerment left a lasting impact. “He is not sorry … he speaks his mind, he does not worry about what others think of his ideas … it is something that is really left with me.”

Red Sonja It could still have its sword and its characteristic appearance, but this is not only a return to the nostalgic past. It is a rebirth rich in fire, anchored in emotion, resilience and rough human strength. This version is ready to carve out a new legacy.

Away: comicbook