Red Sonja (Hannah John-Kamen to Star in Sword and Sorcery Reboot)

By Crom, the actress to wield the savage sword of Red Sonja has been found.

Hannah John-Kamen, who starred as a villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp and was a lead in series Brave New World, will star in Millennium’s long-gestating sword and sorcery feature.

Joey Soloway is directing the project and co-wrote the script with Tasha Huo, the screenwriter who is showrunning and executive producing the upcoming animated Tomb Raider series for Netflix and Legendary.

“Hannah is a very talented actress who we’ve been following for years and she IS Red Sonja,” said Soloway in a statement. “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.”

Sonya was created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian comic in the early 1970s and was an amalgam of several characters from Conan creator Robert E. Howard. The character, fiery and strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Conan while refusing his advances, proved popular enough to get her own book, continuing to this day even as the Howard and Conan licenses have moved through several companies. Millennium is saying their movie is based on the comic published by Dynamite Entertainment.

When the project was shopped at the European Film Market earlier this year, Soloway noted, “There could not be a greater moment in our world for Red Sonja’s ways of wielding power and her connection with nature and our planet.” Soloway also noted that Sonja is “an ancient heroine with an epic calling.”

Mark Canton (300) and Courtney Solomon (After) are producing alongside Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman of Campbell Grobman Films. Topple’s Andrea Sperling and Millennium’ Yariv Lerner, Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Yunger, Les Weldon, Joe Gatta, and Tanner Mobley are also producing.

Millennium’s Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, and Trevor Short are exec producing along with Luke Lieberman on behalf of Red Sonja LLC, and Nick Barrucci of Dynamite Entertainment. Dorothy Canton is also an executive producer.

The move is a big opportunity for John-Kamen, who has appeared in the Netflix series The Stranger, Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, and Tomb Raider with Alicia Vikander but will now find herself toplining an ambitious feature and portraying a recognizable pop culture figure

The actress, who has garnered acclaim for her work across television, film and stage, recently wrapped production on Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City.

Tyger wrote:I wish we could’ve gotten the Robert Rodriguez/Rose McGowan version