Filmmaker Joe Carnahan is having a big week. In addition to releasing his new Netflix film, The Rip (read our review), starring the dynamic Hollywood duo Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, his recent spot on The Playlist‘s Discourse podcast finds him spilling the beans concerning projects that could have been. According to Carhahan, he nearly took a trip to the dark alleys of Hell’s Kitchen for a punk rock adaptation of Marvel’s Daredevil.
Carnahan’s Daredevil project came and went years ago, before 20th Century Fox lost the rights to the character and sold them back to Marvel, who then partnered with Netflix for the original series starring Charlie Cox as the Man Without Fear. Carnahan says he wanted to make a period-set Daredevil trilogy, which would have tracked the character through distinct musical and cultural eras.
Carnahan’s Daredevil would have spanned musical eras
“It was going to be ‘Daredevil’ in 1973, which was classic rock, then ‘Daredevil’ in ’79, which was punk rock, and then ‘Daredevil’ in ’85, which was new wave,” he explained. “It was very street-level, very Hell’s Kitchen. That’s the version that always spoke to me.”
Unfortunately, stakeholders failed to see Carnahan’s vision for the character and pushed back against his ideas. As unique and refreshing as Carnahan’s Daredevil ideas sound, it’s an uphill battle to get a green light for a superhero project that doesn’t follow “the formula,” if you know what I mean.
The problem with making superhero cinema after Nolan’s Batman
Another problem for Carnahan was that, after Christopher Nolan made his Batman trilogy, he didn’t see much point in exploring that territory. Shareholders see Nolan’s Batman, and they want something on par with it, or bigger. The demand is too much, unrealistic. There’s no room for street-level ideas like a pop-punk Daredevil.
“Listen, it’s like when you’ve done it as well as Chris Nolan did it in the ‘Batman’ films, and that’s just done as well as it can be done,” he explained.
Carnahan has a “better” idea for The Raid
Carnahan also discussed his idea for a remake of The Raid: Redemption on the Discourse podcast. According to the director, he and Frank Grillo were toying with the idea of an emotionally-charged version of the concept, a version Carnahan thought was better than the original.
“I wrote on spec with the idea that if we did it— I wanted to make it modular so that if we couldn’t come to an arrangement with the actual ‘The Raid,’ that we could take those elements out and it would be my own script,” he revealed.
Carnahan continues by saying his version of The Raid would be “more fundamentally emotional than the original” and would give him an excuse to work with Grillo again, which he always looks forward to. For better or worse, the project is no longer in the cards, as Carnahan was unable to reach an agreement with the producers.
Better than The Raid, you say? What’s that Steve Martin quote from Three Amigos? “That’ll be the day.” Yeah, that’s it. Look, I like Joe Carnahan quite a bit, but let’s not say things we can’t take back. What do you think about Carnahan’s ideas for a punk rock Daredevil and an emotional take on The Raid? Let us know in the comments section below.
