If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?
The newly-created “super soldiers” of Heneral Borgo (Richard Quan) in ABS-CBN’s primetime series Mars Ravelo’s Darna shared the kind of power they wanted to possess, given the chance in a parallel universe.
The supervillains — Paolo Gumabao as Noah, Simon Ibarra as Mayor Zaldy, Dawn Chang as Maisha, Joshua Colet as Sigfriend, Eric Fructuoso as Arthur Pineda, Kim Rodriguez as Ishna/Xandra, Mark Manicad as Ali and Young JV as Andre — will use their special powers in an attempt to beat the superhero Darna played by Jane de Leon.
In the series, Noah can now manipulate fire, Andre has explosive powers, Mayor Zaldy has superhuman strength, Maisha can make people involuntarily move and mimic her, Arthur can control inanimate objects, and Sigfried can create a force field as a shield. Ishna, the longtime assistant of Borgo, is a shapeshifter, while Ali has laser powers and heat vision.
In a virtual call, Eric shared he wished that he could stop time and time travel as his superpowers. “Para pag nakausap mo bwisitin, sabunutan mo muna tapos tuloy yung conversation. Yung parang kung bwisit yung kausap mo, pause, pak, pak, pak (slap), tapos continue,” he said with a laugh.
Likewise, the actor wanted to experience time travel so that he could relive good old memories. “So you can tightly hug the person that you wanted to cherish in the past. It’s like we have no regrets in life but if we could have changed things, mas maganda. That would be one good way to… for closure, for everything.”
Like Eric, Simon also would like to travel back in time and teleport. “I will join Eric in traveling back in time para yung mga nalampasan mo (moments), pwede mong balikan.”
He also mentioned teleportation because he loves to travel with his family. “I will bring my family with me. Hindi pa kami mata-traffic… and more places to visit,” he added.
As Xandra/Ishna, Kim wanted to be able to “fly.” “Xandra is already super strong. So maybe next time, gusto ko i-try naman lumilipad-lipad. It’s my dream. Sobrang hirap talaga na nakikita ko si Jane ‘pag naka-harness siya, it’s tough. It’s challenging so I want to try that stunt.” But as Kim, she preferred to be “invisible” so she could go to different places.
Darna is Kim’s first show as a Kapamilya talent and she was “super happy” and “very thankful” for this project.
It has always been her desire to be part of Darna. “Sobrang nakakatuwa and sobrang nag-e-enjoy ako (being part of the Darna family) especially during our lock-in tapings. Even off-cam, nagbo-bonding kami, parang mas nakilala pa namin ang isa’t isa and I gained more friends. They were all nice. They welcomed me warmly. Nakakatuwa and it was heartwarming.”
“I wanna be the most intelligent person in the world,” Dawn asserted. “So I would know everything, para hindi na rin ako nahihirapan,” she added and joked, “So, I would know if my partner is lying… Because I believe that everything and anything is ‘figureoutable.’”
On the other hand, for someone like Joshua who loves the sea, he wanted to “be able to breathe underwater and swim and communicate with (underwater species) just like Aquaman.” He added, “Also, to show the people how beautiful our country is. Just to spread awareness as well. I will show them that the Philippines is really beautiful.”
Mark and Young would like to have Salma Hayek’s healing power as Ajak in Eternals and abilities of Marvel’s Nightcrawler, respectively.
“Because I want to give second chances to those people who have a sickness so that they can spend more time with their loved ones,” explained Mark.
As a fan of superheroes and sci-fi flicks, Young chose Nightcrawler. “I think kasi parang at any moment, any time pwede kang mag-change ng area mo basta kaya mong mag-imagine kung nasaan ka. Pwede kang (mag)-teleport at that exact moment wherever you like.”
(Darna is airing weeknights at 8 p.m. on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, CineMo, A2Z, and TV5. The ABS-CBN series produced by JRB Creative Production is also available on iWantTFC and TFC.)