Directed by Chito S. Roño, Avel E. Sunpongco, Benedict Mique and Darnel Joy R. Villaflor, it stars Jane de Leon in the title role.

[3] a lawyer and social media personality whose alter ego, Valentina, is cursed with living, venomous snakes for her hair.

a police officer from Sierra Grande who reassigns himself back to Nueva Esperanza to guide his godson, Brian.

She becomes one of Borgo's super soldier extras giving her the power to hypnotize people allowing them to copy her every move.

He created a comic book, which he left to his family as a way of telling his children Darna's (Zora's) origins.

[31] Matti envisioned the film, to be titled Darna, as a coming-of-age story that is serious in tone (similar to that of The Dark Knight Trilogy) but with gore aplenty.

[31][32] Angel Locsin, who played Darna in the 2005 TV series, agreed to reprise her role when approached by Matti.

[29] Sources reported that Matti had begun principal photography on the film in March 2018, starting with the "simpler scenes".

[35][36] On October 4, 2018, however, ABS-CBN released a press statement announcing that Matti had parted ways with the network as well as Star Cinema "due to creative differences", and that the studio was closing in on a new director.

[40] With the postponed production of the film, ABS-CBN announced on December 4, 2020, that it will develop a television series titled Mars Ravelo's Darna slated to air in 2022 and starring Jane de Leon.

[28] In April 2019, however, ABS-CBN released a press statement announcing that Soberano had left the project due to a finger bone injury she acquired during production for the network's 2018 TV series Bagani, and that the studio had begun casting on a new actress.

[49][50] On October 5, 2021, Kiko Estrada, Richard Quan, Simon Ibarra, Levi Ignacio, Joj Agpangan, Mark Manicad, Young JV, LA Santos, Yogo Singh, Zeppi Borromeo, Marvin Yap, Tart Carlos, and Gerald Acao were announced as cast additions including Joshua Garcia as the male lead and Zaijian Jaranilla as Ding.

[52] Principal photography for the film began on January 19, 2020,[53] shot at ABS-CBN Soundstage in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

"[56][57] On December 4, 2020, during the contract signing of Star Magic artists, it was announced that the Darna film project will become a TV series in 2021.

[76] On June 13, 2022, a tease image went viral after ABS-CBN's social media pages temporarily changed their profile and cover photos to a different logo which resembles Darna's headdress which indicates that it is nearing its premiere.

It gathered a lot of reaction as well as people commenting their excitement for the show, some having witty responses, while others doing photos with their Darna costumes.

[77] On June 16, 2022, a Darna mural was unveiled to showcase empowerment, heroism, and hope dedicated to the frontliners and everyday heroes.

[79] On July 28, 2022, BGYO were announced to sing the original soundtrack of the series, entitled "Patuloy Lang Ang Lipad".

[84][85] Kiki Zulkarnain, chief program and communications officer for ANTV, noted how Darna's narrative serves as the ideal role model for younger Indonesian audiences, adding: "Darna certainly makes our programming more diverse, and we hope it will not only entertain but instill values in the youth through her acts of kindness and bravery.

[87] According to ABS-CBN International Sales Division, once the transition to digital TV transmission is complete, new airing information is supposed to be made public.

[88][89] Darna was also bought by StarTimes in Africa and began airing in July 2024 in English dub in the Novela E Plus lineup.

[97][98] Ryan Oquiza of Rappler gave a positive review for the premiere of the series calling it "a gritty, modern retelling" that has the potential to even soar higher.

Furthermore, he stated that the Darna series also presents an intriguing story of maturation that rewards injustice and penalizes heroism.

He described Calzado as the one who stole the show stating that her portrayal as the "First Darna" possesses the gravitas of Angel Locsin and the bravado of Anjanette Abayari.

"[100] Mike Diez from The Philippine Star also praised the series and gave compliments to the pacing of the story, how its origin was introduced and the performances of Iza Calzado, Jane de Leon and Joshua Garcia.

He emphasized that Calzado gives the character weight and “exudes an aura of authority.”[101] The Ravelo family said that ABS-CBN is the best platform for Darna, emphasizing the quality of their works and of all the options that they had, the network remains to be the best choice for the comic superheroine and the rights to 13 other comic characters created by Mars Ravelo.

Further adding: “While we don’t entirely approve of the common association between snakes and villainy in stories, this new Valentina’s snake-do nicely mirrors the rich diversity of snakes (about 140 species) that we have in the country.”[106] Despite limited reach on free TV, Kantar Media Philippines reported that the pilot episode of the series ruled its timeslot, attaining a reported 19.4% in Mega Manila and 23% in Metro Manila.

[112] Meanwhile, the official hashtag #DarnaTrailer immediately shot to the top of Twitter Philippines' trending list and remained there the next day.

[113] The second episode maintained consistent numbers, amassing over 250,000 concurrent live viewers on YouTube, and became a trending topic on Twitter Philippines, with the tag #FirstDarna occupying the second spot.

As a tribute, the fans of Jane de Leon and Janella Salvador initiated their third effort for a digital billboard displayed at Times Square in New York City.