Writer Hired for ‘Daredevil’ Reboot

Published by Jeff Leins on: February 8th, 2010

David Scarpa, the screenwriter behind The Day the Earth Stood Still remake, has been hired to reboot the Daredevil franchise for Fox, according to Deadline.com.

We knew it was coming when co-chairman Tim Rothman said they were thinking “very seriously” about taking another shot at the superhero series.  The original in 2003 starred Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, and Colin Farrell was generally disliked by audiences, though it earned $179 million at the global box office.  It was enough to warrant an even worse spin-off of Elektra that quite possibly is the worst comic book movie to date.

Fox has to keep these comic book franchises fresh or they’ll revert back to Disney as part of their multi-billion dollar acquisition of Marvel.  Which is why the studio is trying again with the blind crime fighter, another Ghost Rider, a teenage version of the X-Men, and probably a redo of the Fantastic Four.

It’s too early for story details, but like all modern reboots Rothman once cited the style of Batman as an inspiration, along with the public’s willingness to revisit the Hulk.  I knew see the Edward Norton version was going to backfire somehow.  Sony is already restarting their Spider-Man franchise, so expect even more rehashed origins coming soon.