Heroic Hollywood has launched a new article possibly outlining Marvel TV’s plans for future Netflix shows, and the characters they might want to feature. Umberto goes on to confirm the recent chatter of Elektra joining the next season of Daredevil, and also mentions other characters that could be showing-up as well.
Daredevil season 2 is coming, but won’t air for a while. As for those Elektra rumors and the leaked audition tapes? They’re real. Elektra is coming.
The powers that be at Marvel have also been toying with the idea of adding characters like Punisher, Bladeand Ghost Rider, but there are risks with each of those characters. Not only are they darker and more violent, but two of them require supernatural elements in order to tell their stories. The inclusion of these characters could send Netflix over to the goofy side, which is something they’re very afraid of Ghost Rider would also rely on CGI too much for the studio’s taste.
It would also be difficult to incorporate the stories of these characters smoothly. Blade and Punisher are perceived to be rather one-note to carry a series on their own. The heavy level of violence is also perceived to be a risk. They want a “hard PG-13,” instead of an R. And since none of the Defenders actively kill, throwing Punisher into the mix could be a challenge.
It’s far more likely that we’ll see a cameo and backdoor pilot.
Let’s be honest here, we need a darker skinned actress or at the very least a Latina needs to play the role of Greek heroine Elektra Natchios, to make her authentic and make us forget the awful performance by Jennifer Garner. The only film-star level actress I could see in the role is Jessica Alba, who has already played a Marvel character in the past but we’ve already seen the studio give her Fantastic Four co-star Chris Evans a second shot, she’s also very likely to be open for a TV role and it doesn’t hurt her Sin City (another Frank Miller project) franchise co-star Rosario Dawson is already among the cast. She’s also not that different in age to Charlie Cox, which means we should be considering actresses close to or slightly over 30 years old for the role. Others who I’d like to see in the mix include Stephanie Beatiz (Brooklyn Nine Nine), Natalie Martinez (End of Watch), and Elsa Pataky (Fast Five, Furious 7).
I don’t fully agree with the claim that Blade and The Punisher are one-note characters, considering that with the right writers and creative teams the sky’s the limit for small screen or big screen potential for characters like these which have dedicated and loyal fanbases. I think both characters are in a similar place where Daredevil was before his series was launched, it’s really up to Marvel to figure-out how to relaunch these darker heroes. I do agree with Ghost Rider being both too expensive, and possibly goofy for these Netflix series.
We already know from actors like Idris Elba that Marvel has been talking with people about the role of Blade, so it’s on their mind and they want to do something with him eventually. The Force Awakens’ John Boyega has mentioned a desire to take the mantle from Wesley Snipes, and I think a younger Blade could be a bit more compelling for a series, seeing him possibly learning the ropes from Whistler making a bunch of mistakes along the way, instead of being that established badass from the films.
The Punisher thing seems a bit more likely due to the graphic nature of a lot of the scenes in Daredevil, I wouldn’t even say the series is PG-13 as Umberto says it is, there’s plenty of graphic scenes in the show to merit Punisher showing up and getting his hands dirty in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s more like TV-MA which is what network shows like the very graphic Hannibal land. Something I feel gives Marvel the allowance to go a bit further than they normally do with their material, they apparently are making it clear while the TV shows are within the MCU, they don’t have real impact or influence on the main films.
Daredevil Season One showrunner Steven DeKnight mentioned a desire to be apart of a R-rated Punisher series, and we’re all for that if he’s keen for it, since Daredevil’s look borrowed greatly from Lexi Alexander’s Punisher: War Zone, DeKnight is obviously a fan as well. We also mentioned our hope to see Marvel come to their senses and make the show already.
”I’d love to see him get his due on a platform like this. Nothing would delight me more than to see the Punisher get his own show and maybe we could convince Marvel to go Hard-R rating. If any character deserves an R rating, it’s the Punisher.”
SOURCE: HEROIC HOLLYWOOD