Yaga Showrunner Kat Sandler Talks Baba Yaga Being the 'OG Bad Girl of Fairytales'

IGN spoke with the showrunner and executive producer of Yaga, Kat Sandler at San Diego Comic-Con, along with cast members Clark Backo and Noah Reid.

Yaga is based on the play by the same name created by Sandler, which is drawn from the Slavic folktale of Baba Yaga.

In speaking about what it was like bringing the story to the screen, Sandler said, "The fun thing about transitioning something from theater to film is you get to put so many more Easter eggs visually in it. You get to direct the eye with the camera to highlight lots of little tiny pieces and really build the mystery, build the sex, build the horniness by just being able to zero in on it a lot more, rather than just seeing one big picture of it."

When asked if the series has given Sandler interest in revisiting the play, she laughed, saying, "No, no. The play exists in its own thing, and it has now moved into something completely different with these wonderful, fabulous people (pointing to Reid and Backo) and Carrie-Anne and Hudson, and I can't wait to see where this version of it goes."

In terms of what drew Sandler to the tale of Baba Yaga to begin with, Sandler said, "she's always just been this incredible figure of wisdom and rage, and she's one of the only witches I think that has a name across all of these countries. She's such a big figure in Eastern European folklore, and she has this kind of very ambiguous moral code that was really resonant for me as someone looking to adapt things about female anti-heroes. I really grew up with Dexter and Hannibal and I was like, "can we do this but with a woman?' and still find it viciously entertaining and so fun and so sexy and really be along for the ride with her, enjoying her being the OG bad girl of fairytales."

Backo dug into her character, Detective Carson, explaining she's the practical one, and is very grounded and disciplined, while also intentionally focusing on protecting women.

"(She's) very skeptical of the case and this one (pointing to Reid). She believes deeply in the importance of her job as a cop to serve and protect. And I think she especially underlines protecting women, and understands the vulnerability in being a woman in this world – obviously because she is one herself – but also because its very apparant all around us that we live in a patricarchal society that does not lend well to the safety of women."

Even though Yaga has been described as a dark, mystery-thriller show, Reid and Backo spoke of the humor and comedy included as well, with the series sounding like a mash-up of multiple genres.

"I feel like this show really is a '90s detective movie wrapped in a pulpy rom-com with a dark, mythological thriller in it," Reid said. "I feel like the shift of that within the show is one of the things I love. And as a performer, one of the things I love so much is the switch of gears that way, from moments that feel like they are romantically-driven to comedy-driven to thriller/horror-driven."

Backo shared her thoughts saying, "I think the way that she (Sandler) blends all these genres together, especially using humor and comedy to be able to dive into extremely complicated, fragile, and complex themes – I think it just invites everybody to be able to pause and really think about, what does justice really look like? What does it look like when justice is served? Who are the monsters? What does good and evil really mean and look like?"

Backo added, "What she (Sandler) does so well, is keep it ambiguous, right until the end. And you kind of have to sit with yourself and decide 'what would you do?' in these peoples' positions."

For more on Yaga, check out the trailer reveal from San Diego Comic-Con and find out what Reid said about Hudson Williams joining the cast.

Jessie Wade is Associate Director of Editorial Programming at IGN. You can find her watching the latest rom-com and drama shows, reading a ridiculous amount of fiction books, and throwing herself into way too many hobbies.