Director relentlessly questioned by fanboy
This weekend, Daredevil director Mark Steven Johnson talked to fans at the L.A. Comic Book and Sci-Fi convention. Super Hero Hype visitor 'Raiden' has posted a detailed report on what was shown and talked about on the SHH-Boards.
1) [My 1st Q, and before I asked the question I mentioned that Born Again is my favorite DD story of all time] Will Born Again be in the sequel, with all the dynamics between Karen Page, Matt Murdock, and Kingpin intact? Btw, I have read the movie novel already [dunno if MSJ caught this one].
MSJ said that he likes Born Again too, and would like to see it being made into a movie. I suggested that maybe it can be done along with another story, and MSJ didn’t disagree. However, he said that since Karen Page has a very minor role in this movie, it’d be hard for the next DD movie to have her suddenly become a drug addict and a porn star (it drew some laughter from the crowd). ***I know that I’m missing something MSJ said, but I didn’t wrote it down while I was asking the question, and am only relying on my memory. Maybe it’ll come back to me later.
2) [My 2nd Q] Is Elektra going to spin off into her own movie?
MSJ was affirmative about this, but he couldn’t provide any details. I have a feeling that the success of Daredevil will have an impact with the spin-off.
[I was going to ask another question, but the moderator essentially kicked me off the mike]
3) Did you campaign for the movie Daredevil?
MSJ said he has been trying to get this movie to be made for six years already. He stressed the fact that DD just isn’t as well-known as Spider-man and X-Men, and he not only had to sell the character to the studio, but also had to sell himself. Aside from script, MSJ also done the storyboard. ***I read from Premiere that MSJ hired a storyboard artist to do sketches even before he was hired as a director.
4) What cameos were there in this movie?
Aside from Kevin Smith and Stan "The Man" Lee, MSJ said that Frank Miller also has a cameo in the movie! (I was quite surprised by it and didn’t know if I heard it right, but MSJ mentioned the name Frank again, so I’m quite positive that it was Miller MSJ was talking about). According to my notes, Frank Miller will be one of the nameless victims of Bullseye. I'm 95% sure about it, but I cannot say that it is an absolute fact, though. If anyone else was in the convention, please back me up with this. Many famous writers and artists were paid homage in this movie with the characters' names (ie Kevin Smith playing Jack Kirby, an assistant from the coroner's office).
5) Why change Bullseye’s costume?
Originally, MSJ wanted Bullseye to wear his comic book costume in the movie. But Joe Quesada told him that what works in the comics may not work in a live-action movie. MSJ did some tests with replicated costumes from the comics, but they don’t work out. So MSJ went with a "punkish, vicious" look of Bullseye instead. MSJ said that when he asked Kevin Smith on advice for the movie, KS told him to make the movie his own vision, so that’s what he did because as he said, there’s "a million ways to make Daredevil the movie". Colin Farrell played the assassin with the attitude of a punk, who can kill with anything (guns are too bored to him). His coat is a good concealment for the weapons that he carries.
6) Any chance for Daredevil to become a franchise?
MSJ doesn’t know for certain, because DD just isn’t very popular. When he used to mention that he was making a Daredevil movie, people asked him if he’s doing a movie on Evil Kneivel. MSJ said he’d like to do more comic2films. If he does more Daredevil movies, he envisioned himself to gradually bring the costume(s) closer and closer to the comic book version. MSJ said eventually he’d like to see Daredevil: Yellow as a TV show a la "Smallville". Although he’d like to see a Spidey cameo, he thought it wouldn’t happen (since Sony holds the rights to Spider-man), but he thinks it might be possible with X-Men. ***I’m not sure if he was talking about the TV show or sequels.
7) Do we get to see what Daredevil sees?
MSJ said yes, we’ll get to see DD’s "radar sense". Daredevil, he explained, can basically see soundwaves, and used his other senses to paint a composite picture of the environment; a "Shadow World".
8) How does casting came about?
MSJ revealed that he decided to cast Colin Farrell after he saw the movie "Tigerland". He mentioned that Farrell has some big movies coming up, like "The Recruit". MSJ responded to a question about Stick by confirming that Stick will not be in the movie. There are too many characters and stories in the movie, and he just had to make some hard decisions. MSJ also said that he didn’t want Daredevil to become The Karate Kid, since he sees Stick as a sort of a "Mr. Miyagi Yakuga" character.
9) Do you want to stay in this genre (of comic2film)?
MSJ replied that he’d love to make more comic2films like Daredevil. Among the Marvel characters he’d like to see making the leap to the big screen included Captain America, Iron Man, and Ghost Rider. MSJ revealed that he has asked Kevin Smith if he’d like to write the screenplay for the next Daredevil movie, because he has been working on both writing and directing for Daredevil for years now and he’d like to take a break (from writing, I presumed). Maybe the screenplay will be an adaptation of his "Guardian Devil" story. However, KS hasn’t given MSJ an answer, yet.
10) Any comic2films coming up?
MSJ mentioned Fantastic Four, The Punisher, Iron Fist, and one other that I can’t comprehend from my own scrappy handwriting.
11) Which is more important: an action-packed, visual effect extravaganza movie, or a movie that has human story?
MSJ said that it is much more important to have a movie with a heart and emotions than one with just big special effects. He mentioned that the deleted scene he shown us doesn’t have any f/x, just a quiet moment between two characters (which will show up on DVD). He said that he doesn’t like movies that are light on character development and heavy on eye candies, and he reassured us that Daredevil isn’t like that at all.
***Oh, I just remembered that I asked MSJ whether The Hand will be in an Elektra movie, and he sounds like it is a possibility. So, if an Elektra spin-off movie is ever made, we just might get to see The Hand.
12) How is Daredevil different from Spider-man? (actually, I can’t remember the question but from MSJ’s response it sounds appropriate)
MSJ said that DD is darker than Spider-man. In the movie, MSJ tried to portray Daredevil and Matt Murdock as two separate characters. Theres’s a subplot that is missing from the final cut of the movie, but will show up in the DVD (from the way MSJ described it, it seems like the DVD will be loaded with lots of good stuff). When he was asked abou