Queen Sono follows the story of a secret South African clandestine agent who tackles criminal operations while dealing with crises in her personal life.
Cast and characters
Main
Pearl Thusi as Queen Sono, a field operative of the Special Operations Group and daughter of Safiya Sono, a deceased anti-apartheid revolutionary leader and freedom fighter
Vuyo Dabula as Shandu Johnson Magwaza, an ex-SOG agent and Ekaterina's second in command
Sechaba Morojele as Dr. Sidwell Isaacs, Chief Director of the SOG
Chi Mhende as Miri Dube, Director General of the SOG
Loyiso Madinga as Frederique Kazadi, a former hacker and lead field technician of the SOG
Rob Van Vuuren as Viljoen, a former SOG field agent, who later became an analyst after suffering a permanent impairment injury from a past covert operation
Kate Liquorish as Ekaterina Gromova, a high level security contractor and primary owner of the private military company Superior Solutions, as well as a Russian heiress to the Gromova crime family
Khathu Ramabulana as William Chakela, Queen's childhood friend and therapist
Enhle Maphumulo as Nova, William's girlfriend and a consultant at the World Bank
Otto Nobela as Bula Bule, one of Ekaterina's mercenaries
James Ngcobo as President Malunga, a prominent South African political figurehead
Episodes
Season 1
Production
Development
On December 10, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for a six-episode first season. The series is created by Kagiso Lediga who is credited as an executive producer alongside Tamsin Andersson. Lediga and Tebogo Malope will both direct the entirety of the first season. Diprente Films will be involved in the production of the series. The first season was released on February 28, 2020. On April 28, 2020, the series was renewed by Netflix for a second season.
Casting
Alongside the series order announcement, it was confirmed that Pearl Thusi would star in the lead role. On June 11, 2019, it was announced Vuyo Dabula, Sechaba Morojele, Chi Mhende, Loyiso Madinga, Rob Van Vuuren, Kate Liquorish, Khathu Ramabulana, Enhle Maphumulo, Abigail Kubeka, Connie Chiume, Otto Nobelaand James Ngcobo had joined the cast.
On December 10, 2019, an announcement teaser trailer for the series was released by Netflix. On January 30, 2020, Netflix released the official trailer for the series.
Reception
The first season received positive reviews upon its release. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10 based on 11 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Queen Sono's twisty, taut thrills are matched with epic action sequences and soapy delights, making Netflix's first South African series a smashing good time." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the first season a score of 70 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
