Darkman is the title of a 1990 film directed by Sam Raimi, starring Liam Neeson.
| Darkman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Sam Raimi |
| Written by | Sam Raimi (story & screenplay), Chuck Pfarrer, Ivan Raimi, Daniel Goldin, Joshua Goldin (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Robert G. Tapert |
| Starring | Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, Larry Drake |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates | August 24, 1990 |
Running time | 96 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16,000,000 |
Darkman
Template:Spoiler Scientist Peyton Westlake is scarred and badly burnt after criminals attack and demolish his laboratory, doctors are forced to destroy Westlake's nerve endings, thus giving him incredible strength and making him oblivious to pain. He becomes Darkman, a superhero of sorts who seeks revenge upon corrupt developer Louis Strack, Jr. (played by Colin Friels) and mobster Robert G. Durant (played by Larry Drake), the men responsible for destroying his life. To hide his scarring and blend into crowds, Westlake wears synthetic skin that dissolves in light after a certain amount of time, which he also uses to disguise himself as other people.
Darkman II: The Return of Durant
In this 1994 direct-to-video sequel, Scientist Peyton Westlake (now played by Arnold Vosloo, more widely known for portraying the titular character in The Mummy) continues to work on his synthetic skin, whilst fighting crime as Darkman.
Despite looking as if he had been killed in the first movie, Robert G. Durant was in fact comatose in the time since the helicopter explosion that occurred during the first film's climax, and returns to take over organised crime in the city.
Trying to perfect his synthetic skin with the assistance of Dr. David Brinkman (Jesse Collins), Durant turns up, and in a scene reminiscent of the first movie, Brinkman is tortured and killed, leaving the work in ruins. It is up to Darkman once again to disguise himself as members of Durant's gang and he ultimately manages to destroy them from within.
Whilst Westlake is infiltrating Durant's gang, reporter Jill Randall tries to prove that Peyton Westlake is still alive.
Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die
In the second direct-to-video Darkman sequel, released in 1996, Peyton Westlake (again played by Vosloo) steals a crate of money from drug lord Peter Rooker (Jeff Fahey) to continue his research.
Rooker is determined to find out how Darkman has his superior strength, and enlists the aid of Dr. Bridget Thorne (Darlanne Fluegel), a new character retroactively put into Darkman's origin as one of the doctors who first treated Westlake body after he was burnt in the first movie. Obtaining a sample of Westlake's adrenaline, Dr. Thorne develops a designer steroid which enhances a person's strength at the cost of their mental agility.
Learning of what has happened, Darkman plans his revenge against Rooker by impersonating him while in the company of his family and colleagues in order to bring him down. It is up to Darkman to destroy the formula to the steroid and seek vengeance against Rooker, but not at the cost of Rooker's wife and child.
This film shifts some of the focus from action to drama, during Peyton's scenes with Rooker's wife (played by Roxanne Biggs-Dawson), and his child, reminding him of how life could have been for him.
Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die was originally intended to be the first sequel to the original Darkman, but when Larry Drake became available to reprise his role of Durant, this entry was moved back until Darkman II: The Return of Durant had been finished and released.
The unused Darkman television pilot
Universal Television financed a 30-minute television pilot based on Darkman, which was made sometime in 1992. The pilot retold the origin of the character (with some alterations) and introduced several new characters. Christopher Bowen starred in the role of Peyton Westlake/Darkman and Larry Drake reprised his role of Robert G. Durant. As in the film, Westlake is attacked and left for dead by Durant and his gang. Template:Endspoiler
Darkman merchandising
Darkman has been the subject of two Marvel Comics series, numerous novels, as well as computer and video games. Merchandising for the character all but disappeared for close to a decade until SOTA Toys obtained the rights to make a Darkman action figure. SOTA Toys president Jerry Macaluso was interviewed by Dread Central:
"This leads to an interesting story on Darkman. Universal didn’t know they owned the merchandise rights. It didn’t show up on any of their merchandise sheets. I had to convince them to spend a little time and have their lawyers look into it. I knew at the time that film was made Sam (Raimi) didn’t have the power to retain those rights so it HAD to be Universal even though they said they didn’t have them. Turns out I was right and afterwards Darkman started to show up in all their catalogs of films available to license..."[1]
In 2005, SOTA produced two versions of their Darkman action figure (including interchangeable head and hands to allow the figure to be either bandaged or revealing his scarred visage), as well as a Darkman statue.
Dynamite Entertainment announced 2006 its agreement with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group to produce comics based on Darkman.