EXCLUSIVE | 'She-Ra' Season 5: AJ Michalka explains Catra's 'need to taste power' and her longing for redemption
'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' is about to head into its final season. In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide(MEAWW), AJ Michalka, who is the voice of Catra on the show, spoke to us about just what we can expect from the character going into Season 5.
She talked about what Catra will be going through this season, moving from dealing with Hordak (Keston John) to Horde Prime (Kestion John). "This season is about redemption for a lot of characters and figuring out who they are as women, who they want to become and what side they really want to fight for now that they know more about both sides. I'm really excited for fans to see this side of Catra," Michalka said. "At the beginning of the season, we'll see exactly how strong she is and how she's able to put up with Horde Prime. And then towards the end, we're going to be able to really I think see her character play out in an interesting way that we haven't seen from her yet."
Dealing with Horde Prime has been particularly challenging for Catra. "I think it's been really intense. She was kind of used to having to figure out where she stood in the ranks of being below someone like Hordak. Now that Horde Prime is kind of the centerpiece of the villain side of things, she has to figure out where she belongs and how she can kind of spare herself. What is going to be her role? How can she stay indisposable?" explained Michalka. "And I think that's really tricky for this character being that she's really strong-minded and pretty stubborn. She's been able to get away with a lot when she was dealing with Hordak. And now that Horde Prime is heavily in the picture, she's kind of treading lightly and figuring out exactly how she needs to position herself to stay around."
Of course, Catra is not the only person who has to find a way to deal with Horde Prime. Glimmer (Karen Fukuhara) has been captured as well, someone who Catra has not spent a lot of time with, but is a major rival for Adora's attention. "I think Catra sees Glimmer as a threat because Glimmer is now so close to Adora," said Michalka. "I think Catra feels very much at a disadvantage being that she no longer has that direct connection and lifeline to Adora. Whereas someone like Glimmer and Bow do and Catra envies them for it. So I think there's a competitive nature at the beginning of the season."
She expanded on what Catra's end goals are, saying that her goal is to find a position of power with Horde Prime. That's not her only ambition, however. "I think deep down inside she's hoping for some sort of redemption. A positive ending. Some sort of friendship with Adora," said Michalka. "She has not had that. They have not been able to amend their friendship in a long time. And I think deep down that is what she wants."
"But when we see her at the beginning of the season, she is still feeling the power and she's hungry for it. And I think she'll do anything to taste more of it," she continued. "I think it's a shame because deep down she truly does know what's right and what's wrong but she's seeing red at this point, and she's not willing to compromise. My hope for her is that there is some sort of redemption for her and Adora's friendship and that they're able to figure out exactly how they can be friends again just like they used to be."
She also spoke about what would be the point of no return for Catra. "I think the point of no return would be harming Glimmer or Bow. I think Adora has started a really special friendship with those two. And as much as Catra's jealous I think something what would be completely irreparable, would be Catra getting in the way of that friendship and hurting them. Or making sure that they were not protected," she said.
"I think that right there would show Adora Catra's true intentions and the fact that she'd be willing to ruin a friendship in order to get further along in terms of power. I think that would really end things for her."
'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' releases May 15 on Netflix.