* UPDATE* Joe Carnahan has released the sizzle reel he presented to Fox for what he called his "Serpico-styled" take on Daredevil. The footage is a slick combination of grindhouse, kung fu, and blaxploitation, intercut with scenes from the Daredevil comic and the 2003 film starring Ben Affleck. I love it, but I can also see why Fox wouldn't want to go in such a retro direction. You can check out his pitch at the bottom of the story. *
Well, this isn't really coming as a shock, not after this summer's developments. Fox had been trying to get a relaunch of Daredevil off the ground in a hurry, due to the fact that they would lose the film rights to the character in October. David Slade had been set to direct it for awhile, but he dropped out, only to have Joe Carnahan emerge as as last second replacement. With Carnahan recently revealing that his take on the character had been rejected, it was up to Fox to try and either find a replacement or let the character go back to Marvel. Turns out it's going to be the latter.
We had heard this may be the direction Fox was leaning, anyway, especially after they denied a supposed plan that would have seen them trading a couple of characters back to Marvel in exchange for an extension. This makes Daredevil the third major character to revert back to Marvel's control, and the second since Disney bought the company in 2009. The others are The Punisher and Blade, neither of which have any films in development.
The obvious question now is what impact this will have on Marvel's plans going forward? They've pretty much laid out their plans for The Avengers 2, which will likely run all the way through 2015. But from there all bets are off. Daredevil doesn't fit naturally with the team dynamic, and in the comics only recently became a member. The 2003 film did well, but was considered a disappointment by many overall. Obviously, with the Marvel marketing machine behind him, it's not inconceivable to think Daredevil could be part of a successful reboot somewhere down the line. It just likely won't be any time soon. [Variety]
