Fox’s Daredevil Reboot Cancelled, Rights Revert To Marvel

I recently re-watched “Daredevil” and man, that thing has NOT aged well. It wasn’t Ben Affleck’s fault, it’s all the director’s. I was thinking if any property deserves a 2nd shot it is this. Til now however, Twentieth Century Fox has been dragging its proverbial feet in getting a reboot/remake off the ground. Director Joe Carnahan had recently pitched (in his own words) a “retro, red-suited, Serpico-styled superhero” film, but that “went up in smoke”. No one knows exactly why.

But one thing is clear. Fox’s claim over the property has come to an end. According to the law, a studio must make a movie out of a franchise it holds the rights for by a certain date, or else the rights expire and revert to the original holders. Last month, rumours were rife that Marvel Studios was in serious negotiations with Fox. Marvel wanted two key characters, Silver Surfer and Galactus, presumably to fit into their now greatly-expanded universe. In exchange, they would give extra time to Fox to make a “Daredevil” pic. But Fox refused to let go. My guess is they’re saving those two guys for their upcoming reboot of the “Fantastic Four”, which is to be helmed by Josh Trank (“Chronicle”). They would rather let “Daredevil” slip through their fingers and back into Marvel’s hands. And that is exactly what’s just happened.

Deadline today reported that Fox is officially pulling the plug on the reboot, even though there are still two months to go to the expiry date. The source at Deadline said: “From what I’m hearing, that means that Fox is prepared to see the rights to that character revert back to Marvel Studios, and fall under the Disney umbrella. Marvel essentially said no to an extension and to Fox’s request that it come aboard as cofinancier of the Daredevil film.”

So, The Man Without Fear is now back with Marvel Studios. The question is, what are they going to do with it?