Spider-Man Director to Lurk in the Shadow

January was a tough month for Sam Raimi with Sony deciding to go a different way with Spider-Man 4 and rebooting the franchise without him. Speculation was that Raimi’s next directing project might be World of Warcraft, but according to IESB, sources close to Raimi say that he is ready to get back into the director’s chair with The Shadow as quickly as possible. Raimi is already attached as a producer on the project, and apparently loves the script written by Siavash Farahani.

Raimi has never disguised the fact that he intended to bring the pulp fiction character back to life on screen. In 2007 he stated that he loved the chracter and was trying to work on a story that’ll do justice to the character. Having written and directed  Darkman in 1990 as well as producing its sequels, he knows a thing or two about mysterious figures wrapped in cloaks and wide brimmed hats.  His sensiblitlites might just be what can wash away the bad taste left by 1994’s The Shadow (starring Alec Baldwin). According to the folks over at IESB, who had the cahnce to read the latest draft of the film, it is filled with grim imagery that Raimi can have plenty of fun with.

For those unfamiliar with the Shadow, it started as a radio program in the 1930’s, and has enjoyed a long life in pulp fiction, comics and b-movies.  The Shadow is a mysterious figure whose identity is shared between WWI aviator Kent Allard and wealthy socialite Lamont Cranston. In both forms he’s a master of disguise and hypnotism, a crime-fighter who can turn invisible and cloud the minds of men. The 1930’s radio program always started with it’s tag line “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”

As of now, Raimi directing this film is just a rumor… but who knows what lurks in the heart of this man?  Maybe the Shadow does.