Superhero movies have come a long way since the early 2000s.X-MenandSpider-Manushered in the modern superhero boom but it took other studios and productions quite some time to get other properties right. One of the early dumpster fire level disasters was the 2003Daredevilmovie that starredBen Affleckas Matt Murdock. It turns out he hates it just as much, if not more, than fans do and that is why he decided to be Batman.
The actor and director recently spoke with the New York Times as part of their TimeTalks series. During the course of the chat, he revealed that he truly detestsDaredeviland that pushed him to take on the role of Batman inBatman V Superman: Dawn of Justiceso that he could try and get a superhero movie right. Here is what he had to say about it.
“That’s [Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice] the movie I want to do. I want to be a part of that. 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. TheNetflix showdoes really cool stuff. 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.”
Fans ofDaredevil, asBen Affleckpoints out, have the Netflix series to watch and now have a very good, live-action representation of the character to turn to. It clearly still eats at him a little bit that the potential was there, but directorMark Steven Johnsoncouldn’t quite squeeze it out of the material for the 2003 movie. As for his choice to play Batman inBatman V Superman: Dawn of Justicein the hopes to redeem himself within the superhero genre? There is some room for debate on how successful that was.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justicewas lamented by critics upon arrival and certainly divided fans, but made a ton of money at the box office ($873 million). That said,Ben Affleck, for his part, was by most accounts one of the best parts of the movie and there is a lot of excitement about his upcoming soloBatmanmovie, which he is also going to direct. So the movie may not have been a home run, butBen Affleckseemed to get the character right and has the opportunity to make a truly great superhero movie in the future. Oddly enough,Batman V Supermanhas a lower critic score on Rotten Tomatoes (27 percent) thanDaredevildoes (44 percent). On the flip side, the audience score forBatman V Supermanis at a decent 64 percent rating, whileDaredevilsits at a very poor 35 percent, for whatever that is worth.
Ben Affleckis going to have a shot at further redemption next year inJustice League, which is set for release on July 05, 2025.Zack Snyderis returning to direct and assuming they can successfully unite theJustice Leaguefor the first time ever in a live-action movie, it is pretty safe to say thatBen Affleckwill be fully redeemed in the eyes of fans, and hopefully in his own mind, for the disastrousDaredevil. There is no release date forThe Batman, but ifJustice Leaguegoes well, that could just wind up being the cherry on top of the sundae.
