Charlie Cox Once Shared He Stole a Lot From Ben Affleck’s Daredevil
Ben Affleck’s first superhero movie, Daredevil, received overwhelmingly negative reviews when it first came out. But actor Charlie Cox, who’s taken up the mantle of the Marvel hero, didn’t share the same harsh opinion of the film that critics did. At least when it came to Affleck’s performance.
What Charlie Cox felt about Ben Affleck’s ‘Daredevil’ film
Cox’s version of Daredevil has been much more well-received than Affleck’s ever since its 2015 Netflix debut. The series enjoyed the kind of critical reception that Affleck’s version didn’t experience for each of the series’ three seasons. Cox was one of the many who didn’t feel 2003’s Daredevil lived up to its potential. Now being a part of Marvel lore himself, the actor felt like he could pinpoint why his Daredevil succeeded where Affleck’s failed.
“The original Daredevil film I don’t think that worked particularly well and the reason I don’t think it worked particularly well is that what we discovered with the show is that the tone of the character suits a slightly darker, more sinister feel,” Cox once told Comic Book. “In my opinion the best Daredevil comics are the ones that are geared towards a slightly more mature audience and I think that what the show captures is that level of sinister, dark tone, I guess. But I like Ben Affleck’s Matt Murdock.”
At the same time, Cox felt Affleck wasn’t to blame for the film’s faults. He enjoyed his predecessor’s performance so much that it informed Cox’s own interpretation of the character.
“I happen to think Ben Affleck’s performance as Daredevil is fantastic. I really like his Matt Murdock … I stole a lot of stuff,” Cox added.
‘Daredevil’ inspired Ben Affleck to do ‘Batman v Superman’
It turned out that Affleck also agreed with many of Daredevil’s critics. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via People), he didn’t hold back about his disappointment in what could’ve been.
“Daredevil didn’t work, at all. If I wanted to go viral I would be less polite,” he said. “That was before people realized 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 check.’”
But thanks to Daredevil, Affleck had much greater incentive to play Batman in Batman v Superman. The 2016 feature gave him the opportunity to redeem himself.
“That’s the movie I want to do. I want to be a part of that,” Affleck once told The New York Times about Batman v Superman. “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.”
He also took the time to praise Cox’s version of the Hell’s Kitchen superhero. Similarly to Cox, Affleck felt the Netflix show demonstrated how to truly honor the character.
“The Netflix show does really cool stuff,” he said. “I feel like that was there for us to do with that character, and we never kind of got it right. I wanted to do one of those movies and sort of get it right.”
Ben Affleck went back and forth on this very controversial ‘Daredevil’ scene
In Affleck’s resurfaced interview with Comic Book Resources, it was noted that his Daredevil film deviated from its source material in a big way. In the comic books, Daredevil avoids murdering his enemies as much as possible. The character’s unwillingness to kill was also a significant theme in Cox’s series, with the show often challenging Daredevil’s morality.
However, Affleck’s Daredevil broke the character’s one rule within the first few scenes in the movie. Affleck, much like the character’s fans, didn’t agree with this narrative decision at first.
“That was a real controversial issue. I know that the really hard-core fans, myself included and I think probably even Marvel felt that that was stepping over a line, in a way. We went back and forth on that many, many times,” Affleck said.
The Flash star also felt that this gave Daredevil more room to grow throughout the film.
“He was not as vengeful as we portrayed him in the beginning, but for the sake of giving the character an arc from letting him go from a guy who’s seeking, ultimately, vengeance to a guy who understands the difference between that and justice, and who understands about mercy and compassion, largely through the love of this woman. We kept it in there,” he said.
