I've only just posted a Comic Book Movie related article,
but I couldn't help myself - here's another post about them! This time I want to turn my attention to
Marvel Studios' recent re-acquisition of the rights to Daredevil and The
Punisher. Although these characters have
had a fair crack of the whip with regards to film adaptations (3 times, in ThePunisher's case!), neither have been entirely successful from a commercial,
critical, and fan perspective. Surely,
though, now could be the time to get them right. Now, I had planned to write about
re-integrating Daredevil in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe - however, this
was blown out of the water by the announcement that Marvel & Netflix aregoing to collaborate on several TV series - including Daredevil, Luke Cage,
Iron Fist, Jessica Jones - who will team up to form 'The Defenders'.
Although Marvel Studios are firmly ploughing ahead with
getting The Avengers back on to the big screen, and bringing in new characters
such as Ant-Man and Doctor Strange as part of their 'Phase Three', there's a
good chance that in due course Marvel will seriously consider whether, and if
so, how, they'll give other characters another shot at their own movie.
Of course, if/when they do, the question is how they'll
integrate them in to the established (and expanding) Marvel Cinematic
Universe. If I had the opportunity to
pitch an idea for these characters to Kevin Feige and the rest of the
head-honchos at Marvel Studios, here are my ideas for how they could
successfully adapt these characters, after previous mixed efforts.
The first challenge is fitting them with the established
cannon of Marvel films - the approach I would take would be to establish a
'side franchise', based on the conceit that S.H.I.E.L.D. have tracked
individuals of note since before the emergence of Iron Man - and back in the
1970's and 1980's Matt Murdoch (Daredevil) and Frank Castle (The Punisher) came
under the radar of the organisation.
This could be used as a framing device which ties these films to the
'present day' of the existing cannon - some S.H.I.E.L.D. checking over the organisation's
secret archives are recounted the stories of these characters by a veteran
agent (possibly Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury?). Although in the comics both characters have
had their associations with the various other characters of the Marvel Universe,
taking an approach which fully does them justice, and picks out their best
stories, would arguably require them to stand apart from The Avengers etc. Using S.H.I.E.L.D. as a way to tie them to
the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe would allow service to both elements. However, given that Daredevil is getting his
own TV series, the extent to which they'll tie his escapades as a vigilante in
New York's 'Hells Kitchen' to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe is up for
debate and speculation - it could be set in the '70's, it could be set in the
'now'. Given that it's likely he'll team
with Cage, Iron Fist, and Jones as part of The Defenders, it'd be a push to
have each set in differing eras!
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| 2003's 'Daredevil' was certainly a mixed bag, which mostly didn't quite work... |
Secondly, following from this, one of the elements of
Marvel's ongoing success is they treat each of their films as being an example
of a different genre. Ironically, before
Fox had to relinquish the rights to Daredevil, 'A-Team'/'The Grey' director Joe Carnahan had pitched a 70's set Daredevil movie, with a strong feel of the
gritty crime thrillers and exploitation movies of the decade (he even cuttogether a 'sizzle reel' to pitch the idea to Fox's executives) - something of
this vein would be ideal, giving the character a setting which would feel right
and a style to fit with his story - the vigilante bringing justice to the tough
streets of New York's Hell's Kitchen.
This could set up a confrontation with The Kingpin (portrayed by the late, great MichaelClarke Duncan in the 2003 version - they got the physicality right, though I'm
not sure the portrayal did the character justice otherwise - much like other
characters in that film...), who tries to take him down. If Daredevil had been given his own film
again, I'd have tied it to the Marvel Cinematic Universe by having S.H.I.E.L.D.
represented - maybe with a cameo by a young Nick Fury?? - but set up by a brief
appearance in a preceding movie as an older Murdoch, working as a legal advisor
consulted by S.H.I.E.L.D. or another Marvel character. What is for sure is that his TV series WILL
make use of the Hell's Kitchen setting, and promises to be a 'gritty' take on
the character and setting. Again, no
ideas whether it'll be set in the '70's or now, but it's nice to see they're
keeping with what could have potentially been an element of a new movie version
of the character.
If the 70's setting and take on genre staples of that era
could have worked for Daredevil, then arguably The Punisher's movie should be a
1980's set action revenge thriller - the type of muscular action flick which
were the staples of Schwarzeneggar's, Stallone's, Norris' etc careers during
that decade. Whilst there was some over
the top cheese during that decade, we got bench-mark, genre-defining classics
such as Die Hard. You see, the problem
with The Punisher is that he is potentially the darkest of Marvel's characters:
when taken seriously, as he was by writers such as Garth Ennis during the
1990's & 2000's, there were some very serious and adult stories told using
the character. Imagine Batman without
the restraint, at his most violent and uncompromising - The Punisher will,
torture, maim and kill in his quest to punish the perpetrators of crime against
the innocent. Given that Disney own
Marvel Studios, and they've stuck to keeping their films PG-13 or lower, I
sincerely doubt they'd take that tone with any potential Punisher movie. However, the 80's action movie template could
prove to be the ideal vehicle for Frank Castle's story, that of a revenge-driven
one-man war against the criminals that murdered his family - you could
acknowledge the potentially dark aspects of the character and story, but handle
them in a way that doesn't require them to be exploitative or unnecessarily
graphic. Also, as classically, Frank
Castle is portrayed as a veteran of the Vietnam War, so setting the film in the
1980's would keep things realistic. The
film could be tied to S.H.I.E.L.D. by having the organisation turn up in the
aftermath of Castle's revenge spree, to clean up, cover up and investigate who
was responsible for the carnage!
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| The most recent Punisher adaptation tried to stick to the more recent comic's visual style, but still failed to quite get the character right... |
Finally, if it were down to me, I would make The Punisher
movie stand-alone. There'd be no reason
why he, and other characters, couldn't have cameo appearances in other movies
(or TV Shows!) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; but I think if just one movie
absolutely nailed the characters and their most memorable, or definitive,
story-lines, then that should be sufficient for fans and the studio. After all, there are so many great characters
and stories that Marvel can draw from for the films and TV series, they should
make use of them in the right situations.
And after the mixed results of these particular character's previous
adaptations, they really deserve to get it right, if only just once. But if a movie isn't sufficient to allow
this, then TV may be a better path - which makes it all the more exciting that
Daredevil is getting a series, and one which will tie him with other great
Marvel characters. Perhaps this is the
route they should go with The Punisher too, at some point in the future..?
Of course, Marvel Studios have got enough on their plate
with their ongoing plans for Phase 2,3 and beyond - it may well be that they
decide they simply don't have room on their slate for other characters like The
Punisher. But, if it were up to me, I
think taking the approach I've described above might be the key to successfully
adapting these characters and slotting them in comfortably to Marvel Studio's
existing oeuvre. And as yesterday's
announcement shows - there's always TV...
Well, that's not all I've got to say on comic book movies
at the moment - though I promise it'll be the last word for this month! At some point in the future though I may well
write about why Marvel are currently so successful when Warner Bros are
struggling to get DC characters other than Batman and Superman off the ground;
and why Marvel need to buy back the rights to (at least) Wolverine, Spider-man
and Fantastic Four...
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