Darkman: Sam Raimi and the dark hero
Darkman
One of the damages of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is creating the myth that the great season of cinecomics was born in a cave, where Tony Stark went from a death merchant to a superstar hero in Iron Man (2008). Genesis of the modern style of cinema based on comic superheroes, the first film dedicated to Tin Head must not make us forget that the language of the ninth art in cinema had already enjoyed a decent production, characterized not only by the incredible success of Donner with his Superman and the bat-fever spread by Batman (1989), but also by other less fortunate productions, such as Howard and the fate of the world (1986). In the midst of this thriving production, other titles were inserted that paid homage to the world of paper heroes, but one in particular seemed to want to subvert every rule of the genre: Darkman.And it could not be otherwise, considering that behind this dark anti-hero and far from the heroic canon dear to Hollywood at the time, there is a name well known to cinema fans: Sam Raimi. The same Raimi who years later would have marked another fundamental chapter in the evolution of cinecomics with the first Spider-Man trilogy and who we are now waiting for his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Yet when a still promising Liam Neeson wore Peyton Westlake in 1990, Raimi was not yet an established director, but he was a filmmaker who had made a name for himself in minor productions, ready to take the plunge and get to work. with the big names in the sector.
“I’m everyone – and no one. Everywhere – nowhere. Call me… Darkman.”
Thankfully, Sox fans are all over it – Edes mentions “a reader (and baseball blogger) named Peter Naboicheck”, who began referring to Okajima as “Darkman” awhile back, after the pitcher made some comments about being perfectly willing to play in Matsuzaka’s shadow. (Fortunately, Edes doesn’t actually mention the name of Peter’s blog – you know, it’s not like anyone might actually like to read any of his work or anything. Why would we want to do that? Thank God for Google.)
Now that Okajima is actually pitching very well, which makes it that much easier for Terry Francona to limit his use of Jonathan Papelbon (anyone else notice that the Sox have very quietly reinstituted the old “closer-by-committee” model? And that it’s working?), he needs a good nickname, and “Darkman” fits the bill perfectly. It’s easy to say, easy to type, and (if I remember correctly), the dude in the movie was a badass. Three-for-three.
Edes dismisses the nickname about three seconds after using it to make his point, but I think it’s got long-term potential. If nothing else, it’s going on my list of original Red Sox nicknames. Thanks, Peter.
If you’d like to see the source of Peter’s inspiration for the nickname, you can go here or here. The first one is short, but it’s in German (which somehow makes it better). The second is almost 2 1/2 minutes, but at least it’s in English.
(Photo: SawxBlog)
(Sorry if the three Red Sox posts in a row bothers anyone. I’ll try to do better tomorrow…um, later today.)
