Ben Affleck has been one of the most prolific actors in Hollywood, and he has also made a mark as an acclaimed filmmaker. Having his breakthrough with the Oscar-winning drama Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote with Matt Damon, Affleck rose to worldwide stardom as he headlined blockbusters and became a slough-after actor.
Affleck’s tryst with the superhero genre has been bittersweet. While his role as Daredevil has been regarded as cheesy, with the actor himself considering it a mistake, his role as Batman in the DCEU has been divisive. Now, the actor is rumored to be in the running for Doctor Doom in the MCU, which fans seem to be completely against.
Ben Affleck Rumored to Be Considered For Doctor Doom
Ever since Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four was announced, fans have been waiting for Doctor Doom to finally make his MCU debut. The rule of Latveria has been depicted before in previous iterations of the franchise but has never been done justice. Doom also recently made a cameo in the Disney Plus series X-Men’97.
Doom has been rumored to be the main antagonist in the ‘Multiverse Saga’ after Kevin Feige and the gang had to pivot their plans to have Jonathan Majors’ Kang as the main villain after his publicized arrest and subsequent firing from Marvel. While the reports have not been confirmed, Marvel was reportedly figuring out how to deal with their Kang problem by either recasting him or going in a different direction altogether (via Variety).
Many actors have been in consideration for the role, and fans have expressed their desire for actors like Cillian Murphy to be cast in the role. Actor Ben Mendelsohn, who played Talos in the MCU, expressed his desire to play Doctor Doom and said that he would “give his eyes and teeth” to play the role (via GQ). However, Marvel seems to have other plans.
The X (formerly Twitter) user HolyField News, who is an industry insider and a popular scooper, recently revealed that Kevin Feige was looking at Mads Mikkelsen, Cillian Murphy, and Ben Affleck in the role of Doctor Doom. While Mikkelsen has already played Kaecilius in Doctor Strange, he was killed and hence could still be a multiversal variant of Doom.
Fans Warn Marvel To Not Cast Ben Affleck
The Fantastic Four has been drawing a lot of attention for its unorthodox casting. While Pedro Pascal’s casting as Reed Richards a.k.a Mr. Fantastic had a divisive response, the casting of Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer received a lot of criticism for gender-swapping the character in the comics. Recently, the film also brought Paul Walter Houser on board in an undisclosed role (via THR).
However, Marvel’s casting of Ben Affleck might be the last straw for fans as the actor has not had a good reputation in the superhero genre. He was first cast as Matt Murdock in the 2003 Fox Studios film Daredevil, which was considered to be a cheesy and campy iteration of the character. Affleck’s tenure as Batman in the DCEU reportedly took a heavy toll on the actor, and he even went as far as saying that he hated it there (via EW).
While Affleck himself might not be ready for another role in the genre, fans themselves are not happy with the casting rumors. Marvel fans seem to be more in favor of Cillian Murphy, who has never been in a Marvel film, to don the role of Doctor Doom than the other former Marvel stars.
God please don’t choose Ben Affleck! It has to be Mad Mikkelsen!!!!! He’s perfect for the role
— BurtBurton (@BrettAllen89) May 5, 2024
Christ, not Affleck. Mads or Cillian for sure.
— Alex Kalogeropoulos (@AkalStation) May 5, 2024
Cillian Murphy as Dr Doom could be epic…
— Al Goodman(CoachGoody421) (@AlGoody421) May 5, 2024
Cillian Murphy ✅
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) May 5, 2024
His casting would be one of the MCU’s best ever!
Mads Mikkelsen was already in Doctor Strange (tho recasting has happened before & we’re in the Multiverse Saga).
No, with all due respect, to Ben Affleck. Save him for another role, if he’s interested | #FF
I hope they don’t pick Ben. 😒
— Derrick Goodman Jr (@DGOODMANJR) May 5, 2024
Murphy has also appeared as Jonathan Crane a.k.a Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, which were DC films. However, the films were not part of a shared universe like the MCU, and hence, Murphy can move on to Marvel.
