More shake-ups in the Marvel Cinematic Universe this weekend as Drew Goddard has left Marvel’s Daredevil and then swiftly after Steven S. DeKnight is announced to be taking his place.
Goddard (director of Cabin in the Woods) has been attached to write, produce, and run the Netflix airing Daredevil show for over a year, but his departure doesn’t seem as controversial as Edgar Wright leaving Ant-Man. Goddard was also named earlier this year as the writer/director for Sony’s The Sinister Six spin-off film, which was teased heavily in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. With ASM2 not making as big of a splash at the box office or the critics, Sony is going to want the writer/director to focus all his energy on making Sinister Six the hit the company needs it to be.
It appears that this move has been known about for some time due to the fact that Marvel named Steven K. DeKnight (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Spartacus) as Goddard’s replacement in record time. DeKnight will be the new showrunner and will be Executive Producer along side Goddard, who will still have a hand in the production.
What Marvel hasn’t announced yet is if a new writer will be brought on to the production. Was Goddard able to finish writing out the series before he stepped away from most of his duties? I can’t image a new writer not being brought on to be on set while filming is taking place just in case changes need to be made.
What do you think about the changes happening with Marvel productions? Is there unrest amongst those involved or is it just a coincidence that these announcements have happened close together?
2 Comments
Well, it’s hard to know exactly what is going on at Marvel. Now it could be that these writers, producers and directors have moved on because they are so busy they had to drop some of the work load, or it may be that Marvel let them go because of creative differences. Or their work got far enough along that Marvel realized that they were turning out something more along the lines of a Lone Ranger or Green Hornet than an Iron Man or an Avengers, and so they got the axe. Unless some of these folks go on the record, though, about why the changes took place, the world may never know the real reason.
It might just be simple economics – with Disney stacking most of its eggs in the Star Wars basket, they might have started to cut back in other areas. I suspect this might be the case because it’s the second tier projects that have been undergoing shakeups, and not the top-tier movies.
No Cw I’m good with that.