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‘Daredevil’: Charlie Cox to play Matt Murdoch in Marvel Netflix series
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| Charlie Cox is set to star in Marvel’s upcoming “Daredevil” series for Netflix. (Getty Images) |
Charlie Cox will star as the Man Without Fear in Marvel’s new “Daredevil” series for Netflix.
Best known for his work on HBO’s period gangster drama “Boardwalk Empire” and the Neil Gaiman adaptation “Stardust,” Cox will play blind attorney/costumed vigilante Matt Murdock, the superhero leading the latest charge of Marvel comic book characters heading to television.
The comic book powerhouse also is developing new, original live-action series centered on Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage for Netflix. Each series will have a minimum of 13 episodes, and will culminate with a special “The Defenders” miniseries event that reimagines a dream team of self-sacrificing, heroic characters.
Murdock debuted in comics with the April 1964 cover-dated “Daredevil” No. 1, by Stan Lee and Bill Everett. As a youngster, Matt is blinded in an accident by a radioactive substance that heightens his other senses to superhuman levels. After his father, boxer Battlin’ Jack Murdock, is killed for refusing to throw a fight, the son takes up the fight for justice on two fronts: in the courtroom as an attorney, and on the streets as a vigilante.
The character has enjoyed vibrant creative periods under teams including Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, and recently Waid and Chris Samnee (and previously Paolo Rivera).
Daredevil was previously brought to the screen in a little admired 2003 film starring Ben Affleck, who, of course, is tackling a new, high-profile superhero role, playing Batman in Zack Snyder’s recently titled “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
On Saturday, Marvel announced that Steven S. DeKnight, whose previous television credits include “Spartacus,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel,” will serve as show runner for the new “Daredevil” series. Drew Goddard, who wrote the first two episodes, will serve as executive producer while simultaneously working on Sony’s upcoming “Spider-Man” spinoff, “The Sinister Six.”
Due to arrive in 2015, “Daredevil” will primarily be filmed in New York.
Are you looking forward to the new Marvel shows? What do you think of Cox’s casting? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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‘Empire’ strikes out
“300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE’ Rated R. At AMC Loews Boston Common, Regal Fenway Stadium, suburban theaters and in IMAX at Jordan’s Furniture in Reading and Natick. Grade: B-
If you must see “300: Rise of an Empire,” a belated sequel to Zack Snyder’s uniquely visualized 2006 surprise smash “300,” see it for Eva Green. With her striking features, regal sneer, smoky voice and sexbot armor, she is the film’s most spectacular special effect.
Without the King Leonidas of Gerard Butler, the noble warrior-liege who blared, “This is Sparta,” in the first film, “Rise of an Empire” has a tough row to hoe.
Instead of Butler we get Melbourne, Australia-born Sullivan Stapleton of “Animal Kingdom” as fierce Athenian warrior Themistokles, who wants to unite Greece, including the reluctant and elitist city-state Sparta, against the Persians. Themistokles also wants to lead a hugely outnumbered Greek fleet against the Persian navy led by Green’s Artemisia and her “Excalibur”-mask-clad personal guards.
In opening flashback scenes, Themistokles fires the arrow that brings down Persian King Darius (Igal Naor), making his son Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) heir. In scenes that don’t make a bit of sense, Xerxes is transformed by desert hermits’ dark magic from a mortal prince into the ornately-pierced, chain-and-stud bedecked bondage giant and “god-king.” Lena Headey is happily back as Queen Gorgo, holding down the Spartan fort while Leonidas is away.
Director Noam Murro, taking over from Snyder, is no hot new talent. His last credit was the short “HBO Imagine.” Snyder and Kurt Johnstad return as credited screenwriters based on the graphic novel “Xerxes” by Frank Miller. The dialogue is yet again a monotonous chorus of militaristic crowing, boasting, gloating and bombast, usually involving a person’s willingness to die pour la gloire.
Miller is particularly enamored of Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day speech from “Henry V,” and we get at least four versions of it here. The Spartan men, who all resemble male models and love nothing more than to smash one another’s faces, play hard to get when Themistokles tries to enlist them. Later, the computer-generated Greek ships not very convincingly ram galley-slave-powered computer-generated Persian juggernauts in the Battle of Selamis, There is enough CG spurting ichor in “Rise of an Empire,” including an up-close-and-personal beheading, to satisfy the blood lust of even the thirstiest gore-hound. But it is Green and not the “tidal wave of heroes’ blood” that is the real attraction here. All hail Artemisia.
News Source: bostonherald.com
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