‘Daredevil’ Reboot has been Confirmed, sort of…

I’m going to come right out and tell you that, despite some minor flaws, I enjoyed the 2003 film adaptation of DAREDEVIL, starring Ben Affleck. Yes, I do own the movie, and I also own GHOST RIDER, even though it had more flaws than DAREDEVIL. Both films, coincidentally, were written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. I do NOT, however, own ELEKTRA, which is Johnson’s epic failure. With this rant revealed, I’ll get to my point of news at hand…

About the same time plans of a sequel to GHOST RIDER were confirmed by Variety, a subtle confirmation of a DAREDEVIL reboot was also revealed in the form of one little line, that’s it, but its a line with some weight to it… “quietly developing a new version of ‘Daredevil’”.

Why is this good news? For those of you who love to hate Affleck as Daredevil, or the movie in general, it’s good news as a chance to get it right, so to speak. On the other hand, for the rest of us it’s an opportunity to visit the character in more detail and expand the story of screen, since the original never developed into a franchise, only a lackluster bomb called ELEKTRA. Sorry if you liked this film, but I find no excuse for that.

Daredevil is a fascinating character. He’s been immortalized both by Frank Miller and Kevin Smith, not to mention other notable writers. For me, the combination of a character who is mostly just another regular Joe (with money) and the fact that his disability became his primary “special” ability, his incredible knack for martial arts and the gritty film noir approach of his story, all add up to what I consider Marvel’s answer to DC Comics’ Batman. Both of whom I enjoy in their darker more mature forms and coincidentally, both were developed as such by the legendary Frank Miller.

Unfortunately, one of the coolest bad guys in the Daredevil lore (Bull’s Eye) was wasted in the first film. Well, not wasted. Collin Ferrell did a great job, but I still would’ve liked to see the character appear in a more, let’s say “refined” second attempt at the material on screen. With all the reboots underway, including FANTASTIC FOUR and DEADPOOL among others, it seems as though Marvel and the studios perhaps rushed into these projects too quickly, blinded by the dollar signs glistening in their eyes.

Could they have gotten all of these films right the first time if they had simply slowed down a bit and focused a bit more on quality and not entirely on how huge the box office could get? Perhaps, but with the technology and the increasing savvy surrounding comic book source material in Hollywood, I’m just glad that these films are being made.

Source: Variety