Why Matt Damon turned down ‘Daredevil’
Renowned for his versatility and a gamut of nuanced roles, Matt Damon is an actor who has made an indelible mark in Hollywood. Since he and Ben Affleck burst onto the scene with Good Will Hunting, Damon has gone from strength to strength, maintaining a fruitful career that this year alone sees him in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. However, one archetype Damon still needs to take a crack at is that of a superhero – a glaring omission given the current dominance of superhero films in the cinematic landscape.
Among the pantheon of Marvel and DC’s heroes, Daredevil holds a unique allure. Known as the ‘Man without Fear’, the blind hero patrols Hell’s Kitchen in New York, dispensing justice whilst battling his personal demons. This vigilante’s unique blend of grit, determination, and unyielding pursuit of justice makes him a much more compelling character than your standard Captain America-type hero. When handled correctly, Daredevil can rise above the genre and exist as an incredible character in himself, more than just a good superhero – just take a look at Netflix’s highly acclaimed Daredevil show.
Speaking to Variety, Matt Damon once divulged how he almost donned the red suit of Daredevil back in 2003. Having grown up reading Daredevil comics alongside his childhood friend Affleck, the role held a sentimental allure for both. However, when the opportunity arose, Damon had reservations. He said, “When that one came along, I chickened out because I couldn’t tell. I hadn’t seen the director’s work and I didn’t know. So I just said, ‘no,'” Affleck, however, clearly saw the move as exciting, or at least financially smart. Damon continues, “Ben was like, ‘I ‘gotta do it.'”
Affleck would go on to take the role, resulting in a film that, while commercially successful, was met with mixed reviews. Reflecting on this, Damon added: “And the movie ended up doing very well, even though I don’t think Ben was ultimately very proud of it”. A statement corroborated by Affleck himself, who confessed during an interview with Playboy that Daredevil was his one career regret, despite his love for the character and its story. “It just kills me. I love that story, that character,” Affleck said, adding: “And the fact that it got fucked up the way it did stays with me.”
Affleck’s disappointment with Daredevil was actually a driving factor behind his decision to take on the role of Batman in the 2016 film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice – a role he took with the intention of retribution for the superhero genre, perhaps a chance to correct his previous missteps: “Maybe that was part of the motivation to do Batman.”
Despite declining the initial offer, Damon’s interest in the Daredevil character has not completely waned. He suggested he’d be willing to take on the role under the right circumstances, specifically if acclaimed director Christopher Nolan was at the helm. Damon said, “If Chris Nolan came up to me and said, ‘I want to do Daredevil,’ I would be in.”
Five years after Charlie Cox skillfully portrayed the role of Daredevil in the popular Netflix series, fans of Cox and the character have reason to rejoice; Marvel Studios has officially confirmed production on Daredevil: Born Again, which acts as a ‘soft reboot’; that will formally introduce Cox’s version into the MCU with his own Disney+ show, following cameos from him in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
