20th Century Fox finds themselves in a bit of a bind. Last month we learned the studio was quickly running out of time to get crankin' on a reboot of the Marvel superhero, Daredevil, before the rights would revert back to Marvel Studios where he'd likely end up on The Avengers or something. The problems continued to mount as David Slade dropped out of directing the film due to commitments on the Hannibal TV series, leaving the studio up a creek. But there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
Variety reports that Joe Carnahan(Smokin' Aces, The A-Team) has entered talks to direct the blind lawyer/superhero's upcoming adventure, with the aim for the film to be a dark 1970s take similar to Frank Miller's classic comic run, befitting the hero known as "The Man Without Fear" and defends the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan. Here's the problem, though: Fox's rights to the character lapse in October, and even if Carnahan signs today the film wouldn't start production in time. So Fox chairman, Tom Rothman, is currently having discussions with Marvel brass to work out some sort of swap to earn an extension. The deal would give Marvel permission to use the world devouring Galactus, and also his herald, the Silver Surfer. Both are considered Fantastic Four characters, which keeps them under the Fox umbrella and would almost certainly be a part of Josh Trank's upcoming relaunch. So it's unclear if Marvel gets to use both characters if that means Fox no longer can. I'm guessing that would be the case. So it's an interesting potential deal. If Marvel gets Galactus, you can bet he'll be thrust into the star-spanning pot along with Thanos and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Also, it would likely mean Trank would have to focus his energies on developing Doctor Doom as the primary Fantastic Four threat, which really shouldn't be that big of a deal. Right now, there's no deal in place, so Fox has until October 10th to get Daredevil in front of cameras. Either way, you can expect to start hearing some casting news very shortly.
