A post shared by erikmatti (@erikmatti) on Apr 23, 2018 at 6:50am PDT

MANILA – Filmmaker Erik Matti thinks the only way for people to stop saying Liza Soberano would not make a good Darna is for them to see her in full physical form.

In an interview on Sunday, Matti said he has seen Soberano in costume and in training as he lauded the young actress for her dedication to the project.

“When Daniel Craig became James Bond, ang daming nagsabi na iba pa din si Sean Connery. Nung lumabas siya, everyone believed him. I think hindi 'yan (bashing) mahihinto until they see her and believe her kapag nakita siya na, ‘Ay oo nga, she’s the perfect Darna,’” the director said.

“We need to see her in full physical form. Grabe 'yung change from a year ago when we started. That’s because of the dedication of Liza as well. She had to forego a lot of things,” Matti added.

• LOOK: Liza hard at work to get into shape for 'Darna'

Matti also set the record straight and stressed that the movie adaption of Darna is in full swing.

“We’ve had several look tests already in terms of makeup, costumes for the superhero and for the normal Narda costume. She’s gearing up. She’s quite excited and we’ve done several rehearsals already for critical, emotional scenes.

“Ang dami nang nangyari so I am shocked that every now and then, may balitang hindi matutuloy or nagbitiw ako. Unless I am fired, I am very much still ino Darna,” he said.

• 'Not a quitter': Erik Matti denies leaving 'Darna' movie

As to Soberano’s costume, Matti said they have incorporated into the suit all that’s required of Darna but they also made sure that “it’s more towards a fighter, a savior, a defender.”

“Hindi naman pwedeng naka leggings si Darna. We didn’t think of [being conservative]. We only thought of what’s good for the role. Of course, with all the gender sensitivity now, we have designed something that is more of a warrior, more of utilitarian costume. Dati kasi bikini na parang weird din minsan, itatanong mo sa sarili mo kung bakit 'yung superhero naka-bikini,” he said.

Matti also shared why the movie won’t be joining this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.

“I think it’s tough to put a target to a film this big. There’s a lot of things that are unknown. The production is quite big. The post-production is also quite extensive. I think ABS-CBN is trying to come up with a very special project with Darna. To put a playdate to it, parang sayang din lang para sa project,” he explained.

According to Matti, they have already begun filming the simpler scenes but they had to take a break “to prepare for the big ones.”

“We started shooting the simpler scenes first, the ones that are easy to prepare for. Aside from that, we have to get ready for the complicated set up. We’ve started already two months ago,” he said.

As of writing, Star Cinema has yet to announce when “Darna” will be released in cinemas nationwide.