Whether you like it or not, Martin Scorsese and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are always going to be within each other’s orbit after the legendary director kicked off a snowball effect that finds every notable filmmaker being questioned on their thoughts regarding the unshakeable rule of superhero cinema.
Given his status as a cinematic icon with a track record of classics and commercial success dating back almost half a century, you’d have thought Scorsese could get any project of his choosing made with the minimum of fuss. For the most part it rings true, which in turn makes Devil in the White City all the more curious.
Regular collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio optioned the rights to Erik Larson’s book in 2010, with Scorsese signing on to produce and possibly direct. After a decade lingering in development hell, Hulu stepped in to transform the novelistic nonfiction tale into a limited series with the dynamic duo executive producing, which was set to star Keanu Reeves in his first-ever small screen leading role.
Earlier this year, though, Hulu pulled the plug on Devil in the White City, plunging it back into the depths. Focusing on H.H. Holmes – widely regarded as America’s first serial killer – the tale unfolds during the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, which of course served as the backdrop to the most recent episode of Loki, with Owen Wilson’s Mobius even making a point of name-dropping the murderer.
Even without doing anything, Scorsese and Marvel ended up forging another coincidental link at random, which is hugely ironic if nothing else.