Today we have an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Gundala. Indonesia's preeminent comic book superhero and his alter ego enter the cinematic universe to battle the wicked Pengkor and his diabolical squad of orphan assassins in the action-packed movie. Written & Directed by Joko Anwar (Impetigore) and based on the comic by Harya Suraminata, the upcoming movie stars Abimana Aryasatya (12:00 A.M.), Tara Basro (Impetigore), Bront Palarae (Belukar), Ario Bayu (Java Heat) and Lukman Sardi (Abracadabra). Gundala will be available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD July 28th from Well Go USA Entertainment.

Based on a popular comic book first published in 1969, Gundala is the first movie in a proposed eight installment franchise launching a new superhero cinematic universe (in the vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe). In this origins story, which we caught a glimpse of in the first Gundala trailer, Sancaka (Abimana Aryasatya) is a security guard who was struck by lightning, giving him superhuman powers and turning him into the superhero Gundala. The movie had its international premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and this release features an all-new English dub, in addition to its original subtitled soundtrack.

Based on the classic comic, Gundala is a poignant portrayal of the notion that Super heroes - whether every day or superhuman-can be found anywhere (though a superpower never hurts). Indonesian orphan Sancaka spent his life on the streets trying to attract as little attention as possible, but when greed and violence reach a fever pitch in Jakarta, it soon becomes clear that he is the people's only hope for peace. Bront Palarae had this to say about starring in the movie.

"We shot in over 72 locations in a span of 48 days. It was crazily ambitious. Despite the unwelcoming weather conditions such as rain and thunderstorms, I have grown to adore and respect the team for the way they brought everything into this project."

It sounds like putting Gundala together was a pretty tough endeavor. With that being said, the movie has been praised since its premiere last year. One review calls it a "Crowd pleaser with its own unique style," while another critic says, "From beginning to end, Gundala delivers fast and furious action and rarely stops to take its foot off the gas." Finally, another reviewer says that the movie is "...a crowd-pleasing action film full of martial arts battles and special effects."

From the looks of things, we will probably see another installment in the Gundala series. In the movie, we didn't finish telling the story about the character's origin. Abimana Aryasatya says, "If you want to know more about Gundala's superpowers, you might need to watch the sequel Gundala: Son of Lightning. The second movie will be spilling more on where his powers came from and why is Sancaka called Gundala. So, I cannot reveal now (laughs). Hopefully we'll get a production update soon. You can check out our exclusive clip above. Pre-order Gundala on Blu-ray and DVD right now.