Sam Raimi Teases Return to Darkman Franchise and Offers Update on The Last of Us

Before bringing Spider-Man to the big screen, Sam Raimi directed Darkman, a dark superhero thriller starring Liam Neeson in one of his very first action roles (long before Taken). The movie didn’t do particularly well, but it did receive a number of direct to video sequels – none of which Raimi was involved with – and a fairly sizeable fan following.

Asked in a recent interview if he has any interest in returning to the Darkman franchise, Raimi answered, “Yes, but not personally, not as a director, maybe as a producer, to bring that character back. I’ve always wanted to. Maybe one day we will. I never thought about it for TV, but I like the character and it is an interesting mix of ‘Phantom of the Opera” and ‘The Shadow’ and whatever else, and I’d love to get back into that.” So, it could very well happen!

Whether there’s room for Darkman in a world with comic book adaptations revolving around the Justice League and The Avengers is hard to say, but something could no doubt be done with the franchise. One other project Raimi has in the works is a big screen take on hit PlayStation 3 video game The Last of Us. However, screenwriter Neil Druckmann being busy with another project may mean that it will be some time until that comes to fruition as well.

“I don’t know what his time schedule is right now. I think he’s working on another video game right now, so I think that’s where most of his time is going at this moment, the commitments he’s made, but I’ll just wait and see if he delivers a new draft. It’d be great.”

Raimi apparently added that he’s not sure if he’ll direct that either, so what’s in store for both Darkman and The Last of Us is very much up in the air right now. Hopefully we’ll hear more soon, but we do at least now know that the filmmaker won’t be at the helm of the former!