3/17/2011

Robert Pattinson to play Daredevil? Film described as "a bit Batman Begins"

Well I guess this was unavoidable. The Daredevil rumors have already begun. With David Slade recently tapped to pump life into the wannabe superhero franchise last seen in 2003, the plan is to make this film a "continuation" rather than a full blown reboot. None of the previous cast(Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell) will be returning because...well, frankly they're all better than a B-list Marvel character at this point. So what's the plan going to be to make Daredevil more interesting this time around than last time? The West Hollywood Resnorter over at Moviehole got some inside info on what Slade's pitch to Fox entailed...

Slade’s pitch, I’mtold, is said to be a “close cousin” of some of the other superhero movies out there in the market place (I believe he’s referring to films like “Thor” and “Captain America” which are bright, boisterous blockbuster types that skip on the gloom and go straight to the boom!) – which shouldn’t surprise anyone. “It’s a bit Batman Begins. The bad guy will learn who Daredevil really is and tries to destroy him – but not via the usual methods.”

I don't think you get anymore different than Batman Begins and Thor. Daredevil lends itself perfectly to the Christopher Nolan model. Daredevil is a dark, mercurial vigilante with a public persona that puts him squarely in the spotlight. The city he chooses to defend is the crime riddled, rough and tumble Manhattan neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen. It's as much a character in a Daredevil story as Gotham is to Batman.  

Slade's involvement is intriguing because the director has never quite settled on a tone. His film career began with the outrageous thriller, Hard Candy, which saw Ellen Page stalking down a pedophile played by Patrick Wilson. He followed that up with the vamp horror, 30 Days of Night, followed up by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the best installment of the young adult series yet.  

It's the connection to Twilight that might prove the most important, as Moviehole notes that rumors are already starting to fly about Pattinson and Slade reteaming...

And yes, with David Slade given the job, there’s “some kind of talk” about Robert Pattinson – who, with the “Twilight” series winding up, is going to be looking for a new well-paying gig – playing the part of Matt Murdock

Pattinson doesn't seem like the type to play a superhero, so I have my doubts about this one. Daredevil works best, at least in my opinion, portrayed a little older. Part of that is his career as an attorney. He needs to present a clear authority during the legal scenes(key to any Daredevil story), and I'm not sure Pattinson has that just yet. Look for Slade to cast someone more established in the coming weeks.