20th Century Fox’s re-adaptation of Daredevil had been kicked around a bit too long. After the 2003 film came out, the studio never seemed sure how to move forward with the Man Without Fear. There were talks of a direct sequel, but those were squashed when starting from scratch came into the equation.
But how do you start fresh? Hiring director David Slade (Hard Candy) was a good start. There were rumors of taking the character into a darker direction ‐ which hopefully meant fewer playground romance fights and a soundtrack featuring far less Nickleback ‐ and Slade’s sensibilities would have suited that more faithful, grounded take on the character. Then again, dark and edgy aren’t adjectives we generally associate with 20th Century Fox. Unsurprisingly, the Slade reboot never happened.
Speaking with Slade about his work on NBC’s new series, Hannibal, he told us what we missed out on.
“[I saw it as] really complex and exciting. It was complicated [Laughs], and in the most unimaginable Fox way possible. I was really, really excited about it . . . It’s funny, I remember Joe Carnahan went after it hard when the rights were about to go. He cut together that thing that was great and exciting, but it was kind of sad, in a way, because everything in that trailer we had attempted to do [Laughs]. Every single thing.”
Based on how Slade described the movie, it would’ve been the Daredevil movie fans have always wanted. “It’s in the 70s, Kingpin is going through New York dealing with the Irish mafia, and there’s Daredevil in the yellow suit. It was all there! You know, it’s a big studio film and it’s tougher…there are certain people who are really good at that, and I hope to be really good at that. I will continue to try my best.”
To continue down that path, Slade has been keeping himself busy with commercials for charity, Hannibal, and a smaller film which might come together this year. The Hard Candy director felt that the aborted Daredevil movie would’ve been “fantastic,” but moving forward is more important than dwelling on yellow spandex.
“Moving forward, yeah. You have to. If you don’t, you’ll just go crazy.”
