Red Sonja is a fictional character, a low fantasy sword and sorcery heroine created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. She first appeared in Conan the Barbarian #23 (Marvel Comics). The character was loosely based on Red Sonya of Rogatino in Robert E. Howard's short story "The Shadow of the Vulture" (The Magic Carpet, January 1934), which Roy Thomas rewrote as a Conan story for the Marvel comic. Thomas also somewhat based Red Sonja on another character - Dark Agnes de Chastillon (also known as Agnes de Chastillon, Dark Agnes, Agnes de La Fere, and The Sword Woman), who is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard set in 16th Century France. The stories were not printed until a long time after the author's death.

The character of Agnes was beaten by her father and almost forced into an arranged marriage. She avoids this by killing the bridegroom and running away. She meets Etienne Villiers, who at first attempts to sell her to a brothel, and Guiscard de Clisson, a mercenary captain who trains her as a swordswoman. When de Clisson is killed, Agnes heads for Italy with Villiers.

Like the later character Red Sonja, who was based on another creation of Robert E. Howard, Agnes has red hair and a short temper. Unlike that character, her skill is a mixture of innate talent and training, compared to Sonja's skill being a divine gift.

The character may be partially based on Novalyne Price. Swordswomen like Red Sonja, Belit and Valaria may also be based on Novalyne Price.

The character now appears monthly in her own series, as well as a series of mini-series and one-shots, all published by Dynamite Entertainment. The main Red Sonja series features a wide array of cover artists as well as the regular creative team of writer Michael Avon Oeming and artist Mel Rubi.

Red Sonja has become the archetypical example of the fantasy figure of a fierce and stunningly beautiful female barbarian who typically wears armor resembling a bikini or lingerie.

For more information about Red Sonja, check out Wikipedia

• "There's a scene where I'm underneath a bunch of horses and stabbing upwards. I'm excited about that."

• "It was very difficult [after Planet Terror] to do anything. I would read these scripts and be like, 'Well, I guess I could make this kind of funny, if the guy didn't talk too much.'"

• "From a really early age, being into empowerment, being a feminist, and loving the underdog, and really, in my life, being one. So, I brought it home and said, 'I'm really interested in female vengeance!' And then I'm like, 'Oh god, therapist...'"

• "This movie is going to be hard, its gonna be cold, its gonna be dirty, bloody. But I'm up for it."

• "When I was really little, I saw La Femme Nikita, and that's what I wanted to be when I grew up. I think Nikita would be proud."

• On doing her own stunts
"In Death Proof, the face being slammed against the plexi was mine. I smashed my cheekbone and almost had a concussion, but it wouldn't look right otherwise. I'm gonna end up like a boxer at 38, but I do as much as I can."

• "When they first came to me with it, I thought it was funny. I do have a body made for sitting on a veranda with mint juleps and a parasol. I don't know why I always have to save the planet."

• "I do have a very scrappy-do personality, I lean toward physicality. The story has characters trashed by life who fight their way back. That is my theme."

• "I tried to write Conan stuff, but the wrong studio owns it. So Rose and I, we're trying to figure out something to do together after doing Planet Terror. In that film she was so strong, and you know you'll see a woman be in a film like that and the next film, they'll play a girlfriend. You want her to do something that lets her take advantage of her strengths and talents."
- Robert Rodriguez

• "We decided to do this instead of Barbarella, which we did have funding for, we were gonna do it for $70 million in Germany, but there were other projects..."
- Robert Rodriguez

• The film will be produced by Robert Rodriguez and was set to begin shooting in 2008. However, the film has since been delayed.

• At the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con convention, Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan debuted the first look at Rose as Red Sonja with exclusive teaser posters.

• Because of his commitments, Rodriguez wasn't able to direct Sonja and instead offered up the reins to his friend, Douglas Aarniokoski. He did promise that he'll be extremely hands-on as a producer to the extent that it'll basically be unofficial co-directing. Rodriguez had been trying to get Red Sonja on the big screen for years and, coincidentally, the script came across McGowan's desk at exactly the right time.

• Rose will be doing her own stunts and has been working out three hours a day.

• The film is aiming for a solid R rating. While at the 2008 Comic-Con, Robert Rodriguez joked, "My name is 'Double R. We're gonna give you a double R, baby!" Rose also noted, "This movie is going to be hard, its gonna be cold, its gonna be dirty, bloody. But I'm up for it."

• The movie is likely to be based on Issues 9-12 of the comics. While the story is remaining a secret as of now, Rodriguez said that those issues are the origins of Red Sonja.