Daredevil back to Marvel Studios?

[Christopher]

Daredevil is a b-list hero, but therein lies an opportunity. Along with the Punisher, Luke Cage, and some other b-listers, they could build a "darker, grittier" side of the shared Marvel universe to sit in the shadow of the Avengers.

Which is just the sort of thing to be handled by a different studio in coordination with Marvel. Have Marvel, Sony, and Fox develop their own distinct branches of Marvel characters with just enough coordination among studios to hint at their connection in a shared universe. (There was an attempt to insert The Amazing Spider-Man's OsCorp Tower into the Avengers skyline, but the timing didn't work out. But it shows that the willingness is there.)

After reading that Newsarama piece and being reminded that Daredevil and Spider-Man have at least two major recurring characters in common -- not just the Kingpin, but Ben Urich as well -- I feel even more strongly that the Daredevil film rights should be "bundled" with the Spidey rights.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I do think they should be bundled too, although, if I were Marvel, I would sign a different contract that gives them a bit more control over the franchise. It won't be one of those unlimited contracts as long as they keep making movies, but more of a joint venture.

I think the end result would be a Spiderman and Daredevil team up to take down Kingpin type movie. I'm not sure if the movie was just in the cartoon, but it was a fun crossover at the time.

 

[Tosk]

After "Amazing Spider-Man" I'm quite glad that the DD rights are not in Sony's hands.

...plus, I'd rather not see Matt as Spidey's blind sidekick, which is probably what it would amount to.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Well, I think the idea would be to have a Daredevil movie (perhaps one that hints at Kingpin, but doesn't make him the villain) and then a Spiderman movie that has both of them team up. In that second movie, he would be second to Spiderman, of course, but he will have gotten his own movie first.

 

[Christopher]

After "Amazing Spider-Man" I'm quite glad that the DD rights are not in Sony's hands.

Well, the Raimi Spidey films were from Sony as well, remember, so it doesn't make sense to assume that every film produced by a given studio would be equivalent in tone or style. Even if you didn't like Mark Webb's take on Spidey, that doesn't mean you wouldn't like a different director's take on Daredevil, even if it was produced under Sony's aegis.

 

[Tosk]

A different director for a stand-alone DD film is all well and good, but you were talking about combining him with Spidey...I should have been clearer that my objection was to that idea specifically. If Matt has to be a B-lister in a combined superhero universe, I'd rather it be under Marvel's direct control instead of Sony. ...Or Fox.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I remember when they were casting for Electra in the original film, Jolene Blalock was in the running..

I'd like to see her get the role this time!

 

[Nick Ryder]

I think she could be... interesting as Elektra. Although I think it would be nice if they actually cast someone who was more 'ethnic'. Jen Garner - while 'okay' was hardly the Elektra from any universe honestly.

But I hate to admit it, I wouldn't mind seeing Colin Farrel as Bullseye again. But this time in a "fucking costume". He was pretty much the only really 'straight from the books' character in the movie.

DD was... meh okay. Kingpin I could handle him being black only IF he was actually like the comics version with his fingers in a lot of pies... and with super hero enforcers. Not basically an overfed 'gangsta'. But I did love his voice - shame he passed away recently.

While I wouldn't want a throw back retro 70s explotation grindhouse like movie - I wouldn't mind seeing a similar style. Dark, stylish, violent and street level when he's DD, grey and bright when he's Matt Murdock. Heck, I'd even love to see like a cameo by Jennifer Walters I know in the comics they were never really law partners, but it would at least help tie him into the rest of the MU.

Matt Murdock joins up with Foggy Nelson - who unfortunately can't be played by Favreau again - and Jennifer Walters at a new law firm - heck take the one from She Hulk - Goodman, Leiber, K&B whatever lol maybe even hint. Give us a little taste of Jen Walters before she becomes She-Hulk. But its still a heavily DD story.

I'd love to see something that would set up some really epic Daredevil/street level stuff. Maybe even gradually set up a Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Misty Knight Heroes for Hire movie. They all sorta worked out of Hell's Kitchen and other dark dingy parts of the MU.

Do it true Marvel Knights style. The stories and bad guys the big "shiny" guys can't or won't take on. There are so many good 'street level' heroes in the MU, be nice to give them a little section of the MU.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I don't know about having him and Walters be at the same firm - Murdock always struck me as a solo practitioner (it fits in with the kind of lawyer he is who is all about helping the poor). Although if he worked in Hell's Kitchen today, it would probably be rich enough that he'd need a partner (speaking of which, they need to update the geography there a bit).

 

[Christopher]

Murdock always struck me as a solo practitioner (it fits in with the kind of lawyer he is who is all about helping the poor).

Uhh, no, he's usually been half of a two-man firm, Murdock and Nelson.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

OK, fair enough.

 

[Tosk]

Or "Nelson & Murdock" to be more precise. I always loved that Matt's name came second. There's no need for him to hog all the glory.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

As far as the lawyer stuff goes, I always found "The Practice", and especially the characters of Bobby and Jimmy including the dynamic between the two, to have the kind of feel to it that I'd love to see in the lawyer stuff of Daredevil. So, once more: I want a DD TV show by David E. Kelley!

 

[Captaindemotion]

As far as the lawyer stuff goes, I always found "The Practice", and especially the characters of Bobby and Jimmy including the dynamic between the two, to have the kind of feel to it that I'd love to see in the lawyer stuff of Daredevil. So, once more: I want a DD TV show by David E. Kelley!

I think I remember saying the same thing when DEK was announced to make a new Wonder Woman. But I wouldn't want his DD to get as OTT and tongue-in-cheek as Boston Legal or Ally McBeal got.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

As far as the lawyer stuff goes, I always found "The Practice", and especially the characters of Bobby and Jimmy including the dynamic between the two, to have the kind of feel to it that I'd love to see in the lawyer stuff of Daredevil. So, once more: I want a DD TV show by David E. Kelley!

I could see that. His Wonderwoman show (by all accounts) was a clusterfuck, but if he is willing to take the lawyer moments seriously and only have camp with Daredevil, it would be great. Actually, if DEK were inspired to actually think through the consequences of a superhero lawyer, he could probably pull it off. The trouble is, I'm not sure he's usually motivated to do something like that so it ends up as just camp.

 

[Christopher]

Personally I'm disappointed that the backdoor-pilot movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk never spun off a Daredevil series. Aside from a couple of variations like a more generic black costume (to avoid offending religious types with devil imagery, I guess) and a bearded, more normal-sized Wilson Fisk (John Rhys-Davies) who was never called Kingpin, I felt it was actually a pretty decent interpretation of DD, though I'm not the best judge since I have little experience with the comics' version of the character.

 

[TheSeeker]

^I vaguely remember that. I also remember being pretty disappointed with it.

 

[Christopher]

Well, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk probably doesn't hold up well today, but by the standards of a late-'80s TV superhero adaptation, it was reasonably good and faithful. Although maybe part of why I liked it was because Daredevil fit much better into the Bill Bixby Hulk universe than did Thor, the guest hero in the previous backdoor-pilot Hulk movie. After all, the Bixby show had been rather grounded and never had any fantasy/supernatural elements except for one episode with a psychic, so Thor just didn't fit in that universe. (The Thor movie was actually reasonably good, but it just didn't work for me conceptually.) But Daredevil was given superpowers by radiation just as Banner was, so it was a much more plausible crossover.

If nothing else, TTotIH is notable for featuring the first Stan Lee cameo in a live-action Marvel superhero movie. He played a juror in a dream sequence.