Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast · Venganza Media, Inc.

Darkman II: The Return of Durant

·1 hr 25 min·1 clip

It is lacking all of the charm and the character that made the first Darkman film great.

Justin, Arnie, and Stuart review Darkman 2: The Return of Durant on Now Playing Podcast's Darkman retrospective series. They trace the entire Darkman extended universe: 1991 unplayably hard Nintendo game, 1992 TV pitch with Christopher Bowen as Darkman/Larry Drake as Durant (repurposed original footage), 1993 Marvel Comics miniseries (Durant with robot spider legs), and 1994 novel series by Randall Boyle (poorly written, lacking Darkman's charm). Darkman 2 was first direct-to-video live-action film from Universal, made against studio wishes. Blockbuster Video's strong rental demand forced Universal to greenlight sequels. Darkbuster's censorship requirements shaped content. Film was shot after Darkman 3 (titled Die, Darkman, Die) due to Larry Drake's scheduling. Director Bradford May was TV movie specialist, not a visionary like Sam Raimi. The discussion contextualizes how 90s media fragmentation (games, TV, comics, novels) preceded streaming, but lower expectations. Sam Raimi remained producer, hinting at more sequels despite Durant's deaths.

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