Ben Affleck explains why ‘Daredevil’ movie “didn’t work at all”
With its phallic weaponry and BDSM costume design, many struggled to take Daredevil seriously. Released well before Netflix found success with its 2015 reboot, the film stars Ben Affleck as a blind lawyer turned superhero battling foes while trying to win the approval of Jennifer Garner. This was before Hollywood had hit its superhero stride – and it shows. On release, Daredevil was poorly received, being panned by critics across the board. So many years later, Affleck still regrets accepting the role of Matt Murdock.
The late 1990s were not a good time for Marvel. Facing bankruptcy, the film branch of the comic book empire was looking for fast money. Daredevil seemed like an obvious cash cow: he had all the underdog charm of Spiderman, but his backstory was somehow darker. Following the success of Sam Raimi’s debut Spiderman movie, Marvel raised the budget for Daredevil and cast Affleck as Murdock. It quickly became apparent that Marvel and Affleck had two very different films in mind. While the producers were looking to stuff Daredevil with as many CGI-aided fight scenes as possible, Affleck was hoping to match Al Pacino’s performance in The Scent of A Woman, with the actor seeking the advice of a visually impaired man called Tom Sullivan.
“The character I played was a superhero, and there was loads of fantastical stuff attached to that, but that was less interesting to learn about than really learning what it felt like to be a person who had lost their sight, how they experienced the world, how their other sense changed,” Affleck explained. “One of the things that I really cared about in that movie was not just looking blind or coming across as blind but knowing what it felt like. [Tom Sullivan] was really patient with me. He helped me understand something that I found really interesting artistically. I thought that was the most interesting thing about the movie, frankly. A lot of the other stuff was kinda silly.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly back in 2007, Affleck echoed that sentiment. “Daredevil didn’t work at all,” he said. “That was before people realised you could make these movies and make them well. There was a cynical sense of ‘put a red leather outfit on a guy, have him run around, hunt some bad guys, and cash the cheque’.” A decade later, Affleck got a chance to redeem himself when he was cast in Batman Vs Superman. During a 2016 interview with The New York Times, the actor poured yet more scorn on Daredevil, claiming that its failure had inspired him to take on the role of Batman.
“‘That’s the movie I want to do. I want to be a part of that,’” Affleck said, recalling reading the Dawn of Justice script. “Part of it was I wanted for once to get one of these movies and do it right — to do a good version. I hate Daredevil so much.” Well, if that’s not a good motivation, I don’t know what is.
