Before Sam Raimi directed the original Spider-Man film trilogy, the filmmaker co-wrote and helmed an original superhero feature titled Darkman in 1990. Now, stars Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand have reunited with more cast and crew members to reflect on their experience working on Darkman as the film celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Before the release of Darkman, Sam Raimi was primarily known for his work on the cult horror film The Evil Dead and its sequel. However, the fan-favorite filmmaker had been interested in adapting a comic book into a feature film for years and decided to create his own superhero after failing to secure to screen rights to Batman and The Shadow. Based on his own short story paying homage to Universal classic movie monsters, Darkman starred Neeson as Dr. Peyton Westlake, a scientist who is brutally attacked and left for dead after his girlfriend, played by McDormand, becomes mixed up with a corrupt developer named Louis Strack Jr (Colin Friels). While the treatment for his severe burn injuries fails, the procedure grants Westlake with superhuman abilities that drive him to become psychotic and consumed with a desire to seek vengeance on the men, including mobster Robert Durant (Larry Drake), who disfigured him.
Universal's gamble on Darkman paid off when the R-rated superhero film opened at number one in August 1990 before earning a worldwide total of $48.8 million and praise from moviegoers. While the character may have been unknown to the public before the film was released, the concept of Darkman was not hard for the then-relatively unknown Neeson to understand. "The script appealed to the little boy in me because I know it would have been something I would have loved to have seen on a Saturday matinee growing up in Ireland, and it was a big fat juicy lead in a movie," he explained to The Hollywood Reporter. McDormand added that she is grateful to see Darkman continue to have a following even as more and more superhero films are being produced in Hollywood, saying, "what is gratifying is that it continues to intrigue an audience. Even with all the Marvel and DC Universe that we have now. Darkman is an art film."
While Universal Studios had taken a chance on Darkman, the studio brought in their own editor to cut the film and did not want Raimi involved in the process. By the time the editing process was complete, Darkman had been cut down to 85 minutes and did not test nearly as well with audiences as Sam Raimi's cut. According to producer Robert Tapert, the decision was made to re-edit the film behind the studio's back after Universal decided to lockdown the shorter version of Darkman. "We spent 48 hours basically recutting the entire movie, restoring things we thought were important. We added nine minutes back in, things we really liked that the preview audiences would recoil from, but that was what it was meant to do. We locked it — and didn’t tell anybody," Tapert recounted before acknowledging that Raimi might not have made the same choice on his own. While Universal was furious after seeing the mix, there was nothing the studio could do because the negative had been cut and critic screenings were to be held 48 hours later.
The decision to work around Universal Studios was likely the right call as the success of the film led to multiple Darkman comic books, action figures, and video games. Perhaps more importantly, Darkman arguably led to Sam Raimi directing the successful Spider-Man films, which are often cited alongside the X-Men movies as one of the early projects that paved the way for the current superhero trend in Hollywood.
Those who have been yearning to see Sam Raimi return to the superhero genre are in luck as the filmmaker will helm Marvel Studio's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Director Scott Derrickson, who helmed the first Doctor Strange film, was initially set to return before stepping away from the director's chair over creative differences with Marvel.
Darkman is now available on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter