10 Comic Book Movies That Actually Deserve Remakes
5. The Shadow
Alec Baldwin has been acting for a long, long time, and he’s so evergreen that if they remade this 1994 cult classic today he could still play the lead role with a few script changes.
The Shadow is a pulp fiction tale of an American First World War veteran who remains in Tibet and sets himself up as a warlord and opium baron. If that sounds like a treat to you, that’s literally just the opening scene.
A holy man with mystical powers then offers the veteran a chance to redeem himself spiritually, and trains him how to hypnotise people and make himself invisible, except for his shadow (hence the name).
From there it kind of loses control of itself, keeping all of the slightly over the top elements and the original comic strip while trying to tell a grounded, serious story of redemption.
It tells a James Gunn-style story while attempting a Batman Begins tone. The ingredients are there (just about), but they don’t fit and the whole thing ends up a mess.
With another shot and Hollywood having more of a grip on how to pace and tone comic book movies, a remake could be a surprise hit.