I’d like some evidence that the people who make Conan or Red Sonja movies have read some Robert E. Howard. Conan wears clothes. He doesn’t have a special favourite sword or a nemesis or a long-festering need for revenge. He doesn’t do fancy sword fighting techniques and he’s not a weightlifter with a perfect physique. He’s an adventurer, a mercenary, a thief, a pirate, a soldier, whatever he needs to be to make a few coins to keep himself in wine and women between jobs. He’s smarter and stronger than a lot of the people around him. He’s not a chosen one and he’s not on a hero’s journey, and though he eventually ends up being a king, it’s not a grand destiny. And a lot of the stories about him are fun. Some are pretty much horror stories, some don’t need any supernatural or fantasy elements. And he doesn’t need yet another origin story, especially with a nemesis taken from an entirely separate Robert E. Howard series of stories.
Sonja borrows elements of Howard characters like Red Sonya of Rogatino, who appeared in exactly one historical fiction story set in the 16th century. She’s a fiery redhead who’s good in a fight and there’s not a lot more there. Roy Thomas essentially created her in the Conan comics, and she’s been recreated every few years. Was she raped by mercenaries then given fighting powers by a demon under the condition that she couldn’t have sex with any man who didn’t beat her in battle? That’s kind of creepy and removes a lot of her agency. Is she the reincarnation of that Red Sonja? Is she just a woman who can fight, have adventures, and shag any man or woman she wants? Her sex life always seems to be one of the first things the writers think about when they reinvent her, especially when they have her in the metal bikini. Even Marvel didn’t always have her dressed like that. But it too often seems that she’s defined by her appearance and not a lot more.
And what world does Sonja live in? She’s gradually been pulled away from the Hyborian World of Conan, and the current publisher keeps putting her in other eras and crossovers with all of its other characters. There isn’t much of a solid core to the character, other than being a red haired fighter with an impractical sense of style where armor is concerned. You can talk about going back to the core of a given superhero but I doubt anyone would want to retain some of the 1970s elements now. I’m curious about Gail Simone’s new novel, because that might provide some kind of focal point to define who the character is, but someone else could come along and overwrite that again. Someone making a movie has almost too much freedom, because there’s not a lot of consistency to the character, and all the average person knows about is the red hair and the bikini.
