Following in Spider-Man’s footsteps Fox affiliates New Regency is looking to reboot the Daredevil franchise seven years after Ben Affleck faced off against Colin Farrell, turning a few heads commercially and prompting the Jennifer Garner spin off Elektra.
Deadline Hollywood shared the news with the world, and reasoned thus: the reboot is necessary for Fox to keep the rights to their Marvel properties.
Not because there’s an amazing script out there, not because the world is crying out for more tales from the diary of Matt Murdock, but because a film is needed to prevent Disney/Marvel regaining the Daredevil character. Great!
Handling the script is David Scarpa who last thrust words into the mouth of Keanu Reeves in 2008’s The Day the Earth Stood Still remake, and there’s no reason that this shouldn’t be another complete reboot with new actors, going back to the beginning. So, Daredevil joins Spidey and The Fantastic Four in the line to get a fresh lick of paint while the last coat is yet to dry.
Comic books, good comic books, spawn countless reinventions and re-tellings, but it often takes distance and a new creative impetus to make an impression, particularly while the memories of the last version are so recent.
