We're really looking forward to the Netflix Daredevil series, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe having amassed a commendable cast and crew which should finally bring the blind comic book superhero the adaptation he deserves. Because lord knows the last attempt to do so, Mark Stephen Johnson's 2003 film starring Ben Affleck, was a total wash. Well, maybe not total - the cast was pretty good, and apparently the director's cut improves things vastly - but it wasn't the best film ever made. It did, however, manage to set up everything pretty well to adapt one of the best storylines from the comic books, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Born Again, which Johnson was all set to do for the sequel. The first film ended with Michael Clarke Duncan's New York crime lord, the Kingpin, discovering Daredevil's secret identity as defence attorney Matt Murdock. He then gets the crap beaten out of him and shipped off to prison, but that never stopped anyone from getting their revenge on a superhero before. Kingpin's revenge in the Born Again comic is especially brutal, as he he systematically dismantles every aspect of Daredevil's life, leaving him destitute and on the brink of insanity after a series of attacks on his personal and professional lives. It would have made a heck of a movie. And everybody seemed to be on board for it, too. Fox has the sequel in development, Johnson was working on a script based on Born Again, and Affleck stated his desire to return only if they chose to plumb the depths of some of the darkest Daredevil stories. Instead they went with an Elektra spin-off movie, starring Jennifer Garner's ninja assassin (and Matt Murdock's love interest), which was pretty naff and killed off any hope of a Daredevil sequel. Now the rights have reverted to Marvel and they're making the aforementioned TV series instead.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
