20th Century Fox Reportedly "Very Lukewarm" About Rebooting DAREDEVIL; Rights May Revert to Marvel Studios

Fox, who as of late was moving forward with their reboot of the Marvel Comics' superhero property, is said to be more focused on revitalizing a Fantastic Four franchise than maintaining the Daredevil film rights.

The story of Daredevil follows New York City attorney Matt Murdock who, due to a crippling injury as a child, lost his eye sight but gained superhuman senses of touch, scent and hearing -- as well as an extra-sensory "radar" -- which help him patrol the streets of the Hell's Kitchen bringing harsh justice to criminals.

The 2003 Daredevil film and it's spin-off Elektra were not very well received by fans or critics and recent rumbling pegged the property's film rights were quietly moving over to Marvel Studios. That was before Chernin Entertainment announced last year it was set to produce a reboot under the 20th Century Fox banner with director David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, 30 Days of Night) attached and writer Brad Caleb Kane (Fringe) working on a script treatment.

Sources close to the production had said the story line would be an adaptation of the critically acclaimed Frank Miller-written and David Mazzucchelli-illustrated Born Again comic book series, which saw the Kingpin of Crime learn the identity of Daredevil and begin to systematically destroy his life.

Earlier this year Slade left the production and director Joe Carnahan (The A-Team, The Grey) proposed a new treatment to Fox. Now it's being reported that the studio has plans to focus their energies on bringing Marvel's Fantastic Four back to the big screen and are "very lukewarm about rebooting Daredevil" unless Disney steps in to co-finance the film. If production doesn't begin by Fall the Daredevil rights will automatically revert to Marvel Studios, who can then use the hero and his assortment of supporting characters (and villains) in their own films.