Ben Affleck played the Man Without Fear in 2003's Daredevil, a movie released in a hit-and-miss era of superhero storytelling that included movies like Spider-Man, X-Men, Catwoman, and Fantastic Four.
While Daredevil spawned a spin-off in Elektra, there was no sequel, and Matt Murdock remained on the shelf until Netflix released the Daredevil TV series in 2015. Affleck's return was considered for Deadpool & Wolverine, but for whatever reason, it didn't happen (chances are the former Batman wanted nothing to do with that particular cowl).
During a recent career retrospective with GQ, Affleck admitted that he remains disappointed with how his stint as the Man Without Fear played out.
"I love the comic book," he shared. "I loved working with [Michael Clarke] Duncan, and Colin [Farrell], and Jen Garner. It wasn't the adaptation that, ultimately, I thought wasn't the best version of what it could have been, and that was disappointing."
The Daredevil director's cut released on DVD was a vast improvement, but the movie's most glaring issues remained. There was still plenty to love, but 20th Century Fox crammed in too much, including perhaps one too many characters, by focusing on The Kingpin, Bullseye, and Elektra.
Daredevil director Mark Steven Johnson, who went on to helm 2007's Ghost Rider movie, has said he's "proud" of what he achieved with his Marvel movies at a time when the genre looked vastly different from what it does today.
"I do think we were doing some interesting things back then," the filmmaker said in 2019. "We tried some things, which I am proud of. I do like the look of Daredevil very much. We hadn’t seen a superhero come home covered in scars, and chewing on pain pills, and it was kind of grim."
"Even though they’re uneven, I’m still very proud of that director’s cut," Johnson noted. "I still think its worthwhile, and the hard thing now is when you look back, and you just see how far visual effects have come. It’s like, ‘Oh my God.’ You look at the CGI Daredevil from 2003, and you’re like, ‘Yikes.’ We have better-looking video game characters now than we did back then."
He added, "I know it’s haunted me for years, because the people that, not all, but a lot of the people who didn’t like the film, see the director’s cut and really enjoyed it. But what good does that do you in the end? You just hope that people see that eventually, and make up their mind based on that."
Affleck hasn't had the easiest of rides in the superhero space, with his run as Bruce Wayne proving to be every bit as tumultuous when he joined the DCEU with 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The actor's plans to star in and direct a solo movie fell by the wayside, and he bid a final farewell to the role with a brief return in The Flash (which was meant to lead to Crisis on Infinite Earths).
Despite Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars being on the horizon, we wouldn't bank on Affleck reprising the role of Daredevil. After all, the moment for that has arguably passed, seeing he declined to return in Deadpool & Wolverine.
You can hear more from Affleck in the player on Daredevil, Batman, and more in the player below.