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Darna Was Inspired by Mars Ravelo’s Mother
Rex Ravelo, son of Mars Ravelo, shared that Darna was partly inspired by his father’s mother, who raised him and his siblings.
In case you didn’t know, the highly-anticipated return of Darna aired last Monday, August 15. Before getting to see actress Jane de Leon wear the famous red suit, actress Iza Calzado wore it on the show as the first Darna or Leonor Custodio to humankind.
But did you know that Mars Ravelo’s mother inspired Darna? This was something the creator’s son Rex shared during the media conference of the show last week.
Darna inspiration
“A lot of people don’t know that my father grew up very poor. Kaya nagkaroon ng ‘Darna,’ dahil na-inspire siya ng nanay niya. Single mother ang nanay niya. Watching their mother raise them singlehandedly, with the inspiration of Superman, he created Darna,” Rex said.
Telling Jane who was at the media conference, Rex mentioned: “So yung twist na iyon na nandiyan si Iza Calzado, nagkaroon ng twist ng family, na iyon talaga ang pinagmulan ng story ng Darna.“
The first two episodes saw Darna’s beginning with Leonor landing on planet Earth after escaping her enemies from Planet Marte and has since adopted the planet as her home. She later gave birth to Narda and Ding (Zaijan Jaranilla) with her husband Danilo (Joem Bascon).
In a flashback from the first episode, Narda touched the stone and confirmed her destiny as Darna.
Leonor’s wisdom
Leonor has been helping people in her own way as a medic in their barangay. Her work has been a role model for her children Narda and Ding, who also helped the community in their own capacity.
While helping an old man who said that they were so much like Leonor, Narda shared a lesson she and her brother learned from her. “Ang pinakamalaking kasalanan ay pag may kakayahan kang tumulong pero wala ka naman ginawa.” (The greatest sin is if you have the capacity to help but you did not do anything.)
Narda would also say the same quote to Regina (Janella Salvador) whom she met in the area where she and Leonor would train.
Leonor would prepare Narda as they train. While Narda said she could still do more training, Leonor reminded her to know when to rest and when to fight. Narda learned this the hard way when she helped her classmate Brian (Joshua Garcia) from bullies. She ended up with bruises.
Leonor’s sacrifice
As the aliens hit their town, Leonor defended the people. When Narda threw the stone to Leonor for her to transform, aliens shot and killed her. Leonor’s death signals Narda’s beginning to become Darna as she struggles with her destiny, duty, and well-being.
Although Leonor’s appearance was brief, we will surely be seeing a lot of flashbacks and ghost appearances from her during the show. One thing is certain. Leonor’s sacrifice is not in vain. And Narda will be ready to embrace her calling just like her mother.
Created by Ravelo, Darna has been retold many times in movies and on television with popular actresses such as Vilma Santos, Angel Locsin, and Marian Rivera wearing the famous red costume.
Originally slated as a Star Cinema movie, the new Darna was finally given a go signal as a TV series in 2020. The shooting started during the last quarter of 2021.
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