Originally a narrator for the radio, the character was so popular that he was given his own book The Shadow Magazine in 1931. Soon he gained his own radio show, which was a big deal back then, with Orson Welles providing the voice of the character. These radio shows are fantastic and I listen to them all the time. The Shadows abilities vary due to the media. In the original magazine he was only a masked vigilante, then in the radio series he was an invisible avenger, which he gained travelling east. This is great because he is just a voice that tricks the villains into "Spilling the beans" as they panic under his reputation.
THE CAST
Let's start with cast this time.
The Shadow/ Lamont Cranston: The Shadow has a distinct face, with the long crooked nose and hypnotic eyes. Plus he needs a great voice, with a sinister laugh and wicked sense of humour. If this were the 80s I would cast Timothy Dalton. However this is not, therefore I choose Hugo Weaving, who we have all seen in The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) and The Matrix films (1999- 2003)- huh he sure likes trilogies! However we also saw him in V For Vendetta as the only thing that actually worked in that film. In that he provided a dark sense of humour and he wasn't as monotonous as Elrond or Mr. Smith (which was their character). So there we are Hugo Weaving as The Shadow and his alter-ego "wealthy young man about town" Lamont Cranston.
Margot Lane: Margot Lane was Lamont Cranston's assistant who often helped The Shadow in his investigations. She knew his identity, which is something I always like. She was never a damsel-in-distress, in fact she often saved The Shadow's life. For Margot we need someone who has that classic 1930s/40s vibe. I was going to say Marion Cotillard, but I want to save her for my Batman episode. I think I am going to go for someone younger, just so that it doesn't seem like a middle-age film. Plus I don't want Lamont and Margot to have a relationship, because he always seemed like he was only concentrating of crime fighting. So I am going to choose Carey Mulligan, because she is young, but has that old world feel, plus she's a good actress which helps.
There weren't a lot of reoccurring villains in the radio show (that's what I am familiar with), so I guess it down to the crew.
CREW
What I love about The Shadow is that it was dark, with a lot of plots involving the wrong man in jail. With that we need a director who has experience in the gangster/ street setting, but also with dark and fantastic. With that it seems obvious to choose Matthew Vaughn, who started his career with Layer Cake and more recently X- Men: First Class, then somewhere in the middle with Kick- Ass. He is a very competent director who has dealings with both.
I would want the film to be set in the pulp era, just because that is all the fun, but it probably wouldn't be a successful move. I would expect to see it in the modern setting, but I would like it to have that feel of a gritty 40s set, kind of like the first Burton Batman.
Wait a minute, with the Nolan Batman films at an end, what's next for the Caped Crusader? Looks like it's my duty to find out! See... the Oli-Signal!!
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