Ben Affleck ended his spell as the Caped Crusader with his fifth DCEU appearance in The Flash earlier this year. The much-acclaimed actor debuted as Batman during the peak of Snyderverse in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. On his way out the door, the Oscar winner famously admitted that he finally figured out how to play that character.
The statement summed up his time as Batman, as DC Studios never managed to make the most out of his stardom and talents, and left it too little too late. Thankfully for Affleck fans, the actor has also played a superhero for Marvel Studios, who created something with him that relatively made his superhero career seem a lot better.
Marvel Had the Opportunity to Transform Ben Affleck’s Superhero Career Before DC
Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a thing, Ben Affleck was roped in to lead Marvel Studios’ plans to make something profitable out of their Comics characters. He portrayed Matt Murdoch, a blind lawyer, who vows to fight crime in New York City in the movie Daredevil in 2003.
Daredevil, which also starred Jennifer Garner as Matt’s love interest and skilled martial artist Elektra, did just fine at the box office, grossing $179.2 million against a budget of $78 million. However, critically, the movie was an underwhelming take on Marvel Comics’ Daredevil, who becomes blind as a child in an accident but sees his other senses enhanced enough to give him powers to take on injustice.
Interestingly, there was an R-rated director’s cut with some chop and change, including the addition of 30 minutes of extra footage. A few fans, who watched the alternate version absolutely loved the movie, with one claiming it is one of his favorite Marvel films.
Watched the Director’s Cut of Daredevil last night for the first time. I’m speechless, without a doubt is instantly one of my favorite Marvel movies, and one of the best CBMs I’ve ever seen.
I don’t know how anyone could hate this. pic.twitter.com/rT3B8dXq3y
— jacob. (@jtimsuggs) November 18, 2023
The reactions suggest Marvel should’ve gone with the director’s cut 20 years ago, which does a brilliant job of highlighting Affleck’s acting potential as a superhero. Marvel also roped in the Gone Girl star to reprise his role in a scene in the stand-alone movie on Garner’s Elektra. Unfortunately for moviegoers, that scene was only available on the director’s cut of Elektra.
Which MCU Star Ben Affleck Beat for the Role of Batman
Marvel eventually went on to produce a television series on Daredevil with Charlie Cox in the starring role. Affleck, meanwhile, was confirmed as DC Studios’ next Batman in 2013. Interestingly another actor, who went on to become one of the most important characters in the MCU, was considered to play Bruce Wayne in Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Speaking on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Deadline), Josh Brolin revealed he was in the race for the part and even shared how his portrayal would’ve looked like, stating:
“It would have been the older, the more raspy, for lack of a better word… Honestly, that would have been a fun deal. And maybe I’ll do it when I’m 80.”
Ultimately, Snyder went with Affleck, and Brolin, as we all know, became the genocidal warlord, Thanos for Marvel Studios.
