Image taken from comicbookmovie.com
Welcome back to Daredevil Month everyone. When I finished my last review, about 2003’s Daredevil, I thought I would be done talking about that particular film series, or at least for the remainder of Daredevil Month.
Still though, I can’t help but feel that the article list on the series is incomplete without both a review of 2005’s Elektra (which will be coming out tomorrow, actually) and a look at the reboot that almost happened before Marvel reacquired the rights to the character.
A few years ago, after the initial complaints fans had made about the film, Fox was looking to reintroduce Daredevil in a reboot that would appeal to theatergoing audiences everywhere. The idea was to make DD grittier, darker, and hopefully something that could bring in both fans and casual filmgoers alike, all so that Fox could continue to hold on to the character’s film rights.
Initially, a good few writers tried lending their voice to the Daredevil reboot. When writer David James Kelly began working on the film, it was being reported that Fox was attempting to bring the “Born Again” story to the big screen, no doubt exciting fans everywhere. Already, Fox seemed like they were on the right track with the reboot.
Rumors also began to circulate about how the new film might/could be a continuation of the Ben Affleck film, although these were usually treated as nothing more than rumors due to their lack of supporting evidence.
Actor Jason Statham began to express his desire to become Daredevil, having been quoted as saying, “Absolutely, just give me the chance, I would love to be Daredevil.” Even legendary Daredevil writer Frank Millar agreed with the idea of Statham being DD.
Rather than going with the action star though, Fox apparently had younger men in mind for the role. According to rumors at the time, Robert Pattison and Garett Hedlund were both heavily rumored for the role. Ultimately, no actors were officially settled on for the film.
Director David Slade was eventually chosen to helm DD’s reboot, having said that his version would be extremely dark. Unfortunately, Fox passed and left Slade to work on other projects. Later, director Joe Carnahan was selected to helm the reboot.
Carnahan has shown off a sizzle reel to the exectutives (which later found its way online) that showed off a hardcore, almost 1970s-ish New York City. The promise was that his film would be very hardcore and very dark/violent. He even called it “Serpico-styled” on Twitter. As cool as this version sounds, Fox passed on the idea.
After passing on extensions granted to them by Marvel (a condition of which was that Fox give back the film rights to superhero team the Fantastic Four), Fox ended up sitting on the rights until they expired and went back to Marvel in late 2012.
Is there anything else you felt I should have covered? Do you think Jason Statham, or any reboot Fox could have made, would have been a good representation of the Daredevil character? Leave a comment below, follow me on Twitter, and don’t forget to check out the Comic Books vs The World Youtube channel. Keep returning to the blog to enjoy daily content during Daredevil Month!
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