De Leon faces a tall order as the two previous TV versions of the iconic Pinay superhero soared in popularity.
Darna’s cultural impact continues to transcend through time and forms of media. After lording the Pinoy Komiks scene in the late ‘40s and the ‘50s, the woman in a red suit found great fame on the silver screen, with several iconic films made to celebrate her symbolic prowess and strength.
She has since been a timeless icon, the definitive Filipino superhero, who portrays an important socio-political emblem for many Filipinos.
On television, Darna, is portrayed not often as she has been in films. Her most successful television appearances are no doubt the previous two TV adaptations produced by GMA Network.
Darna first reached the skies in 2005 via the TV adaptation that starred then-Kapuso star Angel Locsin. The massive success of that Darna version–can’t be refuted. It remains today as one of GMA Network’s highest-rated TV series. According to AGB Nielsen, the show achieved a peak rating of 54.3% in Mega Manila, enough to make the series one of the Top 20 rated shows in Philippine TV history.
The massive popularity of the first TV Darna inadvertently catapulted its lead star, Angel Locsin, to superstardom. She was arguably her generation’s biggest female star, with multiple gigantic projects coming on the heels of Darna’s overwhelming success. That very same path was tracked by Marian Rivera, who took on the role, four years later. Interestingly, Rivera was already a very popular star when she bagged the highly-coveted role, having previously launched to fame when she played the first Filipino Marimar, a year earlier.
Nevertheless, Rivera’s version of Darna accomplished a stellar feat, although it wasn’t as impressive as its predecessor. Like Locsin, Rivera landed more ambitious roles after playing the iconic superhero.
And now, it’s Jane de Leon’s time. She’s the 14th Filipina actress to portray the highly-coveted role and the fourth actress to play it on a TV series (Lorna Tolentino first took on the role in a 1977 mini-series on RPN). With ABS-CBN’s shutdown and currently limited nationwide presence, de Leon faces the biggest hurdle in achieving the previous feats of her predecessors.
But given the Network’s expanded presence online, the new TV series is well-poised to preserve the iconic superhero’s cultural impact and keep its most valued symbolism to Filipinos. ABS-CBN has proven its capacity to remain relevant since its free TV departure. It has already produced critically-acclaimed and ultra-popular shows online. That somewhat gives relief about the future of the original Pinay superhero, which could be de Leon’s chance to embrace superstardom.
