20 years after the disaster that wrecked the first solo live-action Daredevil film, fans look back at the 2003 Ben Affleck project and whether the movie was deserving of the hate that it received in the aftermath of the premiere. The fandom for the Marvel superhero had a long path to walk since Daredevil’s first television film debut in The Trial of the Incredible Hulk! aired in 1989.
More than 3 decades later, no one could have imagined the spectacular craze that would be born in the aftermath of the Marvel x Netflix collaboration and the Devil that was born from the shadows of the streaming era. Trapped between the debut and the fan favorite, Ben Affleck’s film remains a forgotten middle child in the history of CBM adaptations.
Also read: Charlie Cox Takes Brutal Dig At Ben Affleck’s Daredevil
Ben Affleck’s Foray as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen
The 2003 movie that brought Daredevil’s solo venture to the screens as a Marvel production starring Oscar-winning actor Ben Affleck in the lead was a badly executed film that was received by an equally disappointed roster of theatergoers. However, the Marvel of then and the Marvel of now are oceans apart. And as such, the broader and more educated audience invested in the genre of comic book movies looks back once again toward the pre-MCU era that paved the way for so many heroes but is now left to rot in the overbearing shadow of their more successful successor.
Also read: Every Actor Other Than Charlie Cox Who Almost Played Daredevil
The 2003 film lacked in numerous aspects and it failed for many reasons (the suit itself makes it hard to argue in the film’s defense), but poor cinematography and bad acting were not among those reasons. Ben Affleck, who was fresh off the Academy stage having received his first Oscar at age 25, then worked with what he was given and went on to deliver his best representation of Matt Murdock aka the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen in this early 2000s superhero flick.
Groomed in the lingering aftermath of Wesley Snipes’ Blade trilogy, this film too walked in the path of grit and drama marred by dimly lit alleyways that witnessed gruesome, bloody, and morbid streetfights. Unfortunately, the film was a good script shy of being in the same standing as Snipes’ vampire hunter saga – an irony, considering how Affleck himself holds the unbroken record for being the youngest writer ever to win an Oscar for a screenplay.
Fans Award Ben Affleck’s Daredevil a Second Chance
It was an unfortunate sight to see a good cast robbed of their potential by a script that played too close to the chest, too safe, and too commercially pandering. The movie has since held an infamous reputation for not merely being a career-ender (almost) for Affleck but for miraculously not burning Marvel to the very ground. However, 20 years later, the people have decided to call it for what it is – not badly executed but badly written. And Ben Affleck was its sad and unwitting victim.
Was Ben Affleck a bad Daredevil? pic.twitter.com/vKtkFaW03s
— BLURAYANGEL 🦇 (@blurayangel) January 22, 2023
Much like his batman, him in the role wasn't the problem. It really came down to the script and direction. the Netflix one is better, but I feel 2003 has its own charm. I do think the 2003 suit is better than the red Netflix suit.
— Arthur (@Arthur65381575) January 22, 2023
A fine Daredevil in a bad Daredevil movie.
— Julian (@DavissonJulian) January 22, 2023
He wasn't bad, but he definitely wasn't great. If the movie had been better, he'd have been "okay," but it just didn't all come together.
The movie has moments of campy fun but clearly has lots of problems.
— CarlP (@cgp42) January 22, 2023
No ! Matter of fact how he slept in a sound proof bed wit hears under water was very realistic !! Daredevil on Netflix is one of my favorite shows of all time… BUT Ben Affleck version did a better job of showing the audience how he got through everyday life being blind
— The-Real-Don (@ILL13618653) January 22, 2023
Affleck’s turn as the Man Without Fear did the job of bringing forth the story of Matt Murdock in many an elemental way, but the plot in its entirety got lost in the saturated array of themes it tried to portray in the span of a single film. Fans, in a second revisit, discover the film’s potential in the narrative it tried to tell and would have successfully done so had it not attempted to aim for a one-movie project. Daredevil (2003) had its flaws and its flamboyance, but it aimed too high and fell too hard.
Source: Twitter
