Filipino artist admits Nadine Lustre inspired Marvel's first Filipina superhero
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino artist Mico Suayan, one of the illustrators behind Marvel’s first Filipino superhero, Wave, declared that Filipino actress Nadine Lustre was the inspiration behind the new comic book character.
The artist on Thursday posted a photo of Nadine alongside Wave in his Facebook account. The caption read: “A little trivia. I based my rendition of Wave to Nadine Lustre.”
Prior to Nadine, Wave’s Filipino co-creator and designer, Leinil Francis Yu, said on Twitter that he would love to see actress Angel Locsin giving flesh to Marvel’s first Filipina heroine, whose alter ego has been named Pearl Pangan.
Angel rose to fame in her TV series portrayal of the Filipino superhero Darna, while Nadine is a popular choice to replace Angel and Liza Soberano as the new Darna in a Star Cinema movie adaptation. Both Angel and Liza withdrew from the project due to injury.
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Last February, Marvel artist Greg Pak introduced Wave on Twitter.
The superhero, described as a "mysterious new Filipina heroine,” has a Filipina “morena” skin like Nadine, is clad in green and yellow costume, and holds two swords that according to Locsin, resemble the Kampilan, sword of ancient Filipino hero Lapu-Lapu.
Like Lapu-Lapu, Wave has been designed to defend her realm against conquerors. She is among Marvel’s new league of Asian superheroes, which include Aero and Sword Master from China. They will fight dark forces that terrorize the Earth, in a story that is reportedly set in Asia.
Wave will debut in the comic book series “War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1,” to be released in May.
