Summary
- Certain aspects of 2003's Daredevil have aged better than expected, including its brutal violence, dark tone, and Matt Murdock's struggles with morality as a vulnerable hero.
- Michael Clarke Duncan's Kingpin and Colin Farrell's Bullseye seem like solid portrayals of the Marvel villains, in retrospect.
- Elektra's death proved superhero movies could have tangibly high stakes, and Daredevil's sonar abilities, billy-club fight moves, and old-school leather superhero suit make Ben Affleck's portrayal a unique iteration of the hero.
While the 2003 Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock isn't a Marvel movie that's usually held in high regard, certain creative choices in it have stood the test of time. Charlie Cox's MCU Daredevil is one of the most well-developed versions of the character, with three Daredevil seasons at Netflix, one crossover series in the form of Defenders, three MCU appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, and Echo, and one MCU show in Marvel Studios' Daredevil: Born Again. However, Cox is not the first actor to bring the Man Without Fear to live-action.
Fourteen years after 1989's The Trial of the Incredible Hulk marked Daredevil's live-action debut with Rex Smith as Matt Murdock, Ben Affleck played the hero in 2003's Daredevil. Some aspects of Daredevil seem dated in comparison to other early 2000 non-MCU Marvel movies like Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and the early X-Men films. For instance, Daredevil's soundtrack, CGI, and overall tone have often been criticized. But while Daredevil's weak points are a product of their time, there are also several details that have aged surprisingly well.
10 2003’s Daredevil Helped Pioneer Gritty Superhero Movies
Superhero Movies Were Still Experimenting With Darker Tones In The Early 2000s
With the genre on the rise at the time, experimenting with a dark tone was a risky choice for a superhero movie. Ang Lee's Hulk couldn't capture audiences with its blend of comic book-inspired editing and cerebral story, and Daredevil's surprisingly tragic story wasn't popular either. However, Daredevil's attempt at a dark superhero movie is commendable given how little precedent it had. Ben Affleck's unfortunately unpopular Daredevil couldn't avoid most tragedies in his life, and his victory over Kingpin barely got him anything but the satisfaction of physical revenge in return.
Visually, Daredevil may be one of the darkest superhero movies released at the time. No previous superhero movie had dared to be so violent and tragic, at least not without a similar amount of comedic relief to compensate. Besides, Daredevil stood out due to its lack of supernatural elements, which had always been present to some degree in superhero movies since Tim Burton's Batman Returns. Of course, the formula for dark and gritty superhero movies would only be perfected a few years later by Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Every Failed Marvel Movie Before the MCU (& Why They Didn't Work)
From Howard the Duck to Rise of the Silver Surfer, here's every critical and/or commercial Marvel movie failure before the MCU.9 Daredevil’s Violence Was A Bold Move In 2003
The Daredevil Movie Is Quite Violent For An Early 2000s Superhero Movie
Daredevil built upon Blade's action scenes with its less fantastical plot, and it didn't hesitate to harm or kill the characters in rather gruesome ways. Bullseye murders an innocent old lady with a paperclip, kills Elektra's father with Daredevil's billy clubs, and pierces Elektra's hand with her own Sai before stabbing her in the stomach. Daredevil lets a criminal get crushed by a train and breaks Kingpin's legs during their final confrontation — and that's not counting the footage included in the R-rated director's cut. As another positive point, Daredevil's brutality effectively underlines the theme of violence only breeding more violence.
8 Ben Affleck’s Daredevil Is A Vulnerable Hero
Matt Murdock's Human Weaknesses Are A Highlight Of The 2003 Daredevil Movie
In 2002, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man made Peter Parker a visibly vulnerable hero who ended up physically and emotionally hurt after every battle, and Daredevil followed suit the following year. In Daredevil, Ben Affleck's Matt Murdock is shown to be heavily scarred, requires heavy painkillers to function, and even spits out a tooth after a fight. He's constantly tormented by visions of his painful memories and needs to sleep in a sensory deprivation tank in order to avoid hearing every crime in the city while he sleeps. This intimate look at the hero's vulnerability was groundbreaking, albeit overlooked, at the time.
7 Michael Clarke Duncan’s Kingpin Did The Villain Justice
Michael Clarke Duncan's Portrayal Of Wilson Fisk Is One Of The Most Memorable Parts Of The Daredevil Movie
Kingpin's ruthlessness and physical grandeur provides any actor with plenty of material to work with, and Michael Clarke Duncan wasted none of it. Although Bullseye does most of the dirty work, Kingpin makes an impression from the get-go by snapping his bodyguard's neck just to prove a point, and his looming presence makes him terrifying as the villain who pulls the strings behind every death in the movie. When Daredevil finally confronts him, Kingpin beats him to a pulp for most of the fight until Daredevil finds his weakness. Even then, Duncan's Kingpin laughs at Daredevil and promises he'll return.
Michael Clarke Duncan reprised his role as Kingpin in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series the same year.
6 Colin Farrell’s Bullseye Bridges The Gap Between Silly And Dark Superhero Movies
Colin Farrell's Bullseye Is As Cruel As He Is Campy
Save for Ian McKellen's Magneto, most superhero movie antagonists before 2003's Daredevil had been campy or outlandish in one way or another. Colin Farrell's Bullseye is no exception, but his extravagant personality is complemented by his brutal killing methods and his thirst for blood. Bullseye jokes around during his fight sequences, but unlike other villains, he doesn't give the hero time to turn the tide at the last second. In fact, Farrell's Bullseye makes sure Daredevil is watching when Elektra and her father die, and he undeniably crosses the line when he fondles Elektra before murdering her in cold blood.
5 Elektra’s Death Proved Superhero Movies Could Have High Stakes
Jennifer Garner's Elektra Is The First Major Hero To Die In A Marvel Movie
Daredevil also broke new ground by going one step beyond killing the hero's closest relative. Ben Affleck's Matt Murdock is already tormented by his father's death when he fights Bullseye, but his desire for vengeance isn't enough to prevent more tragedies in his life. As much as he tries, Daredevil is unable to save Elektra, and he barely gets a second to explain the truth about her father's death to her before she dies. Although Elektra resurrects in her 2005 spinoff, Daredevil makes her death permanent for Matt Murdock.
