This is a team up that I have been meaning to get to since I began the Blog as The Brave And The Bold: The Lost Issues, almost a decade ago. I remember watching Darkman in the theater when it first came out, thinking, "This is just like a comic book!" Others must have felt that way as well, because sure enough, Director Sam Raimi went on to direct the first three Spider-Man movies. Now, it looks like he will be back in Marvel movies, directing Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Raimi's experience with directing horror will come in handy there, I look forward to see what the sequel looks like.
Definitely one of your best covers ever. Hoping for a sequel.
ReplyDeleteI remember Liam Neeson plugging the first "Darkman" movie on THE TONIGHT SHOW. He described it as being more like the old pulp magazine stories of the 1930's. But, admittedly, that's just hair-splitting, seeing as how comic books-as-we-know-them today borrowed much of the now-standard formula from those magazines!
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I loved the feature film enough to rent both of the direct-to-video sequels. And, while they inevitably suffer when compared to the four-star original, they are still each three stars on their own individual merits, thanks to Arnold Vosloo. He did a bang-up job filling in for Neeson. And it did not take much suspension of disbelief to appreciate that fact when you remember that they were each playing the same character. A brilliant scientist forced by circumstance to become a master of disguise!
I think that about the only way this could get potentially darker (short of bringing in supernatural elements) would've been to team Darkman with the Punisher. Now, that would be a bloodbath in the criminal element!
ReplyDeleteI never read the Darkman comic, but I did see all three of the movies on video (way back when VHS was the only option). We enjoyed them well enough -- we didn't love them, but we appreciated them as worthwhile movies, though more violent than our usual tastes, and we recognized the declining quality of each though they never got into "truly bad" territory.
All that said, I agree that Sam Raimi's past with both horror films and Marvel movies will make him an ideal director for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. He'll have a good feel for the occasional quirky humor that gave the first Doctor Strange its charm (the Wi-fi password bit stands out in my mind) as well as keep the action exciting (Tobey's Spider-Man stopping the runaway train is still one of the greatest moments in superhero movies). I hope he gives his brother Ted a cameo, though.
Ted's best known as Joxer the Mighty, of course, which gives me an excuse -- though an admittedly lame one -- to put in yet another request for the Klutz Commandos! And, well, my birthday's coming up on May 11....
As a slightly more random thought, I wonder if Darkman might be paired with Negative Man, given they're both bandaged all over. That point of commonality, alongside how they have almost nothing else in common, might make for an interesting story.
Great cover!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see Darkman team up with the Shadow sometime.
Nice cover. If you do a sequel you can do a movie one with Darkman guest starring in Batman movie.
ReplyDeleteA good one! The Darkman films are awesome and Batman is the GOAT.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking cover. The matching hand gestures are particularly neat. Looks they're auditioning for Batman: The Musical. You could put this one to music.
ReplyDelete@Dave: Well, why not? There's already a Superman musical, in the form of 1966's It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! Ignore the atrocious 1975 "adaptation"; the original stage version is campy, but not nearly as bad as what ABC did to it. And as well as that show fits the time in which it was created, you can bet that a Batman musical would fit the dark mood that carries Batman today (think Les Miserables).
ReplyDeleteBatman is one of two franchise works that I'd happily write the music for if I had a serious opportunity (the other being The Princess Bride).
Kevin Conroy (as elderly Bruce Wayne in BATMAN BEYOND) said best, with regard to a Bat-musical.
ReplyDelete"It's schwarbage!"