Blind justice set to kick ass again under Twilight director...

David Slade has as of late made a name for himself in the realm of vampires. He helmed the 2005 comic book vamp romp 30 Days of Night, and then switched gears and made the 2007 film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer (an improvement upon the film series, but you know what they say about polishing a turd). And last month, he was hired on as director for The Last Voyage of Demeter, based on a chapter from Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula (relating the story of The Demeter’s travel to England, as told from the captain’s log).

Now, he returns to the world of comic books, albeit superheroes this time around. 20th Century Fox has just announced that Slade has been targeted to helm the latest Daredevil film. The studio released a version starring Ben Affleck in 2003 (and a spin-off, Elektra, in 2005), which was a critical and box office failure. While sources are fuzzy about whether or not this is a reboot, they do seem sure that the new film will be an adaptation of the critically acclaimed “Born Again” run of the comic series, written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli. “Born Again” sees Kingpin learning the Daredevil’s true identity and going about systematically destroying his life.

All of this is coming about because 20th Century Fox needs to have a Daredevil movie in production, or else the rights revert back to Marvel Studios (whose parent company is Walt Disney Pictures). However, so far there’s no word yet on when they will start filming, when a script will be ready, or if Affleck will return for the new film (if the film is, indeed, a reboot, a new actor will surely take over the role). There’s also no word yet if they will do away with the crappy leather suit.

The character of Daredevil debuted on April 1, 1964, created by Stan “The Man” Lee and illustrator Bill Everett, with some input by legendary comics artist Jack Kirby. His true identity is Matt Murdock, a blind man who lost his sight in a tragic accident as a child. The loss of his sight enhanced his other senses, giving him an almost sonar-like ability to “see”. By day, he works as a lawyer in his home setting of Hell’s Kitchen, but at night, he prowls the streets as Daredevil. The character rose in popularity after filmmaker Kevin Smith took over writing duties and wrote the eight issue “Guardian Devil” storyline in 1999. Daredevil has recently been involved in the Civil War storyline, and then took over Hell’s Kitchen when he accepted an invitation to join the mystical group The Hand. He has since gone underground, letting everyone think he is dead.

Personally, I would rather see all of the film rights end up back in the hands of Marvel Studios, if for no other reason than that we could finally see some more character crossovers like in the comic books. But since they plan on going ahead with this production, I certainly hope this film does well, and is the proper tribute to one of Marvel’s finest characters. And I really hope they get the costume right.

SuperheroHype

See also:

Top 10 most mishandled comic book characters in film

Five comics that deserve a movie

Running Low on Heroes?

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