Welcome to the whirlwind that is entertainment news. It was only a couple days ago that the word on the street was that Furious 7 star Jason Statham was in talks to play Bullseye in the upcoming Season 2 of Netflix’ Daredevil series. Now the new word on the street is that negotiations are over between Marvel and Statham, and the original leak is the reason why.
It was just Thursday that the original report hit the internet. Then the next day Marvel denied that the rumor was true. Now Bloody Disgusting has a new report. They say the rumor was true, but it’s not anymore because the leak caused everything to fall apart. It’s not clear why the leak is being blamed. Money is the likely reason. The response from fans was overwhelmingly positive. This might have made Statham’s side believe they could ask for more money, since Marvel could take heat if they now failed to sign the guy the fans say they want. On the other hand, Marvel could have pulled the ripcord themselves, in order to prevent the same scenario from playing out. Since there was no firm confirmation of the original story, Marvel can claim it was never true and they will have a measure of cover against angry fans.
The news of Statham’s involvement with Marvel was oddly timed to begin with since it occurred in the same news cycle as him slamming Marvel’s action sequences for being too CGI focused. While Daredevil could not be blamed for that, the coincidence was noticeable. Since those comments also made the rounds online, it’s possible Marvel didn’t appreciate the guy they were talking to about playing Bullseye talking smack about their product.
Daredevil Season 2 is said to be going into production in the next month or so, so Marvel will certainly be talking to the other candidates for the role in order to get things nailed down quickly.
It's a shame if all this turns out to be true as Statham really seemed like a strong fit for both the character and the show. Fans would have loved to have seen Charlie Cox take on Jason Statham as much as they would have loved to have seen Daredevil face Bullseye. If talks with Statham really have broken down, and the leak is the reason, it will be interesting to see where things go from here. Depending on how everything fell apart, Statham may still be a possibility for a future Marvel role, assuming it's a role that doesn't involve a lot of green screen. Whoever does become Bullseye may some have damage control to do simply for the fact that he's not Statham. Who else would you like to see take on the role?
