EXCLUSIVE: Fox hired David Scarpa back in February to pen another adventure in the “Daredevil” universe, suggesting they were hot on a second installment in the series. The details aren’t public, but if “Daredevil” lay dormant, it’s reasonable to expect Marvel would at least try to reacquire the film rights for a new picture dealing with the Man Without Fear over at Disney.
The question is, what elements are being retained from the last film? Already, Ben Affleck has ruled out returning to the scarlet leather, but what about the minor players involved with the Mark Steven Johnson-helmed atrocity? Specifically Joe Pantoliano, who played journalist Ben Urich? Urich is a major element of the Marvel universe, a reporter employed in the comics by the Daily Bugle (changed to the New York Post in the movie) who has participated in adventures with Daredevil, Spider-Man, the Punisher and several other New York-centric heroes. It would make sense that he would either show up in a “Daredevil” sequel or perhaps be cherry-picked for Sony‘s “Spider-Man” galaxy or maybe even Disney’s collective superhero franchises.
We asked Pantoliano if he had been contacted by Marvel and his response was a bemused, “No. Has Ben Urich been in any of the other movies since ‘Daredevil’? Who do I call?” When told the head of Marvel was now Kevin Feige, he asked, “What about Avi [Arad]? Here, call me up, we’ll do it together. An exclusive!” While it’s only a minor detail, we’re tickled by the idea of Pantaliano as Urich showing up in “The Avengers” a la Michael Keaton‘s Ray Nicolette in “Out of Sight,” but it looks like Marvel’s lost his number. Though we are pleased as punch we can get started on our Ben Urich fan film starring Pantoliano himself.
