Credit: Moviehole.net
Comic films are at an all time high in theaters right now, and that trend isn’t going to stop any time soon. Ghost Rider is set to debut in early 2007, and director Mark Steven Johnson has already indicated he would enjoy creating a sequel. Perhaps of more interest is his indication of returning to the Daredevil franchise.
Johnson spoke at the Wizard World Convention last Week and indicated he would use the “Born Again” storyline in the sequel, should it ever see the light of day. The story in the comic books details Daredevil’s fall to insanity and destitution at the hands of The Kingpin, and his struggle to build a new life for himself. Written by acclaimed comic scribe Frank Miller, it is considered by many to be his definitive work with the character and story.
Sadly for fans, Fox Studios is not jumping at the possibility of putting the blind crime fighter back on the silver screen. The recent spin off Elektra was considered a commercial failure, and as such any future installments in the Daredevil franchise have been suspended, according to Johnson.
Ben Affleck also went on record saying he would never again put on the costume. To quote Affleck, “By playing a superhero in Daredevil, I have inoculated myself from ever playing another superhero. Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me and something I wouldn’t want to do again soon.”
Michael Clarke Duncan, however, is more than happy to return to the franchise for another run. Duncan played the series villain Kingpin in the original, and has already stated he has ideas for a sequel. To quote Duncan, “I had thought what would be kind of cool that we see him in jail, we see him in prison, we see him…you start from the end of ‘Daredevil’, before the sirens and Daredevil is gone and you see the Kingpin in shackles you see him going to prison you see him getting locked up and you see his boys sitting there saying ‘Well what are you going to do now?’ And he just starts to think ‘I need to train, I need to get better, I need to get quicker’.”
It will be interesting to see if Johnson, Duncan or anyone else can convince Fox to give this superhero franchise, currently in limbo, another chance for success. Would recasting the main role help ensure box office returns, or is Daredevil just not the kind of hero for the big screen? The opinions are split on that for now, with the guys calling the shots clearly with the latter opinion of The Man Without Fear.
