DC fans might appreciate his performance as Batman in the DCEU, but Marvel lovers never really took to Ben Affleck’s work as Daredevil in the much-derided 2003 movie. The current custodian of the Man Without Fear, however, has spoken out in support of his predecessor in the role, calling Affleck’s performance as Matt Murdock “fantastic.”
Charlie Cox, who’s played the character on TV since 2015, gave his thoughts on Affleck’s Daredevil in response to a question from a fan during a panel at the Comicpalooza convention. And surprisingly, he seems to have enjoyed what Big Ben did with the part.
“Personally, I think… I’m just laughing because I get asked this a lot and sadly I’m going to say the same thing that I’ve said before. I happen to think Ben Affleck’s performance as Daredevil is fantastic. I really like his Matt Murdock… I stole a lot of stuff.”
It’s interesting to hear that Cox found inspiration in Affleck’s portrayal of the same character, albeit the Matt Murdock side of him rather than when playing his superhero alter ego. However, the star of the Netflix series clarified that, though he appreciates Affleck’s work, he doesn’t actually much care for the movie he appeared in. He cites the reason for that as the tone of the piece not gelling with the “slightly darker” tempo that he believes better fits the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
“So, I think he does a really good job. I don’t like the film. 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. 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.”
Like Cox says, the movie suffered from a misguided tone that wanted to be ultra gritty but ended up being a bit campy – though, if you haven’t already, we’d recommend checking out the director’s cut, which considerably improves on the theatrical edition. In any case, the lack of any further Affleck DD films meant things worked out in the end, as we got the Netflix series starring Charlie Cox. And he’ll get to prove why he’s the definitive Daredevil once again when season 3 arrives at some point later this year.
