Gandarrapiddo! The Revenger Squad

Lore & Background

The film follows Emy Mariposque, a low-cost cosmetics salesperson who lost his memory after a great battle among super beings. He was formerly the superhero Gandarra, who draws power from a lipstick artifact. Years later, his brother Chino's powers activate on his 21st birthday, granting him superhuman speed and strength under the alias Rappido. Together with other superheroes—Barna, Higopa, Flawlessa, and Pospora—they form 'The Revengers Squad' to fight the villain Kweenie, who is revealed to be Emy's long-lost sister Cassandra.

The plot involves the imprisoned villain Mino, who seeks Gandarra's lipstick spear to free himself. After a series of battles, Gandarra kills Madman (whose exact relationship to Chino is never explicitly stated as biological father) and later loses her powers to Mino. She ultimately regains her strength with encouragement from her team.

Reader's Guide

Gandarrapiddo!: The Revenger Squad is significant as the top-grossing film of the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival, earning ₱540 million during the festival run and ₱571 million overall. It marked the return of co-production between Star Cinema and Viva Films to the festival since Beauty and the Bestie two years prior, and was the first and only time two co-productions between these companies were released simultaneously during MMFF (alongside Ang Panday). The film also featured Pia Wurtzbach's first lead role and first superhero character, with her costume designed in gold as a nod to her Miss Universe 2015 title. Vice Ganda contributed to his character's costume design, incorporating elements from the mobile game EverWing and Sailor Moon. The film's theme song 'Gigil si Aquo' was noted by critics to resemble Blackpink's 'Boombayah'. A sequel was hinted at by Vice Ganda and Pia Wurtzbach in January 2018.

Did You Know?

• The film's working titles included 'The Revengers' and 'Gandarah N’ Gwapito: The Revengers'.
• Pia Wurtzbach's costume as Kweenie was required to be gold as a nod to her Miss Universe 2015 title.
• Vice Ganda incorporated elements from the mobile game EverWing and Sailor Moon into his character's costume design.
• The film's theme song 'Gigil si Aquo' was noted by critics to resemble Blackpink's 'Boombayah'.

Production & Festival Milestone

Gandarrapiddo!: The Revenger Squad arrived in 2017 as a Filipino superhero comedy helmed by director Joyce Bernal, produced and distributed jointly by Star Cinema and Viva Films. Its release carried particular industry significance: it marked the first time since Beauty and the Bestie, two years earlier, that the two major studios reunited as co-producers for a Metro Manila Film Festival entry. What made the 2017 MMFF even more unusual was that Gandarrapiddo was not the sole Star Cinema–Viva Films collaboration that year. Ang Panday hit the festival simultaneously, making it the first and only occasion in MMFF history where two co-productions between these two studios premiered in the same festival cycle. This double entry underscored a renewed creative partnership between the studios and positioned the festival as a showcase for their combined resources. The film's genre blend of superhero spectacle and broad comedy fit squarely within the MMFF tradition of family-oriented, high-energy entertainment, while the co-production model gave it a production scale that neither studio might have pursued alone.

Plot & Narrative Structure

The story unfolds across two distinct time periods, anchored by a family of former superheroes living in obscurity. Years before the main action, Gandarra and her allies battle Madman, destroying their lair in the process. Gandarra kills Madman but is struck by a falling rock, losing her memory. Professor Clean, on his deathbed, entrusts the group with raising Madman's young son, Chino. The present-day thread follows Emy, Gandarra's civilian identity, a budget cosmetics vendor and maker of cleaning rags, raising Chino alongside a household of retired heroes who now run small neighborhood businesses. On Chino's twenty-first birthday, his superhuman speed awakens, earning him the alias Rapido. Meanwhile, his sister Cassandra has reinvented herself as international model Cassandra Stockings and the internet villain Kweenie, who spreads fabricated news. The conflict escalates when the imprisoned villain Mino manipulates events to free himself using Gandarra's lipstick spear. Gandarra's near-death moment, during which Professor Clean's spirit encourages her, becomes the emotional climax that restores her powers and allows the Revengers Squad to defeat Mino.

Cast & Character Design

Vice Ganda leads as Emy Mariposque, the amnesiac hero Gandarra, and personally shaped the character's visual identity. He pushed for a vibrantly colored costume that would appeal to children, drawing inspiration from the mobile game EverWing and the anime Sailor Moon. Daniel Padilla plays Chino, a rebellious young man with a soft heart whose superhuman speed and strength define the Rappido alter-ego; director Bernal designed his look to emphasize both masculinity and velocity. Pia Wurtzbach's casting as Cassandra Stockings and Kweenie marked her first lead role and first superhero part, prompting her to take refresher acting courses before filming. Bernal's sole costume requirement for Kweenie was a gold palette, a deliberate nod to Wurtzbach's 2015 Miss Universe title. The supporting ensemble rounds out the household: Wacky Kiray as Pospora, a cigarette vendor who commands fire; Lassy Marquez as Flawlessa, a floor seller whose weapons are multiplied pimples; and MC Calaquian as Higopa, a soda reseller. Each character pairs an ordinary livelihood with a fantastical power, grounding the superhero premise in everyday Filipino life.

Genre & Cultural Positioning

Gandarrapiddo occupies a distinctive niche in Filipino cinema by fusing the superhero genre with broad physical comedy and family storytelling. Rather than importing Western comic-book conventions wholesale, the film roots its mythology in local textures: heroes draw power from a bertud artifact shaped like a lipstick, a street cigarette vendor wields flame, and a floor salesman fights with multiplied pimples. The Revengers Squad functions as a found family of misfit vigilantes whose civilian lives—selling soda, making cleaning rags, reselling cigarettes—anchor the spectacle in a recognizably Filipino working-class world. The film's placement at the Metro Manila Film Festival reinforced its identity as mass-audience entertainment, while the Star Cinema–Viva Films co-production gave it a budget and production polish uncommon for the genre in the Philippines. The narrative's themes of memory loss, sibling estrangement, and a father's legacy carried into the next generation add emotional weight beneath the slapstick, positioning the film as both a lighthearted spectacle and a story about the cost of heroism.