Daredevil has had quite an interesting history in terms of his on-screen portrayals, which kicked off with Ben Affleck's run in the live-action Daredevil movie from 2003. Fast-forward more than a decade, and the Man Without Fear is now being played by Charlie Cox, who's built a legacy as the Marvel hero on Netflix and now on the big screen.
Most recently, Cox appeared in his first-ever MCU movie, as he played Matt Murdock in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, serving as the first of many ovation-worthy cameos. This comes after playing the role in three seasons of his solo Daredevil show on Netflix, also having reprised it for The Defenders, and he's now set to be the MCU's man behind the red mask.
Marvel Studios certainly took plenty of inspiration from early films like Affleck's Daredevil, using them to build a superhero movie universe that's now beloved by fans.
Of course, 2003 was a time that wasn't kind to the genre, with the only other modern franchises in the same conversation being Wesley Snipes' Blade and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man. Cox recently revisited that era of superhero films, although he didn't have the best comments on one particular thing that they brought to the equation.
Charlie Cox Hates Ben Affleck's Daredevil Suit
Speaking at the Middle East Film and Comic Con in Abu Dhabi, via YouTube, Daredevil actor Charlie Cox spoke about his connection to Ben Affleck's solo Daredevil movie from 2003.
When asked about his connection to the movie, Cox admitted that he only watched it once, preferring to take his own journey with the role in his Netflix show:
Interviewer: "What is your connection with 2004's Daredevil movie [with] Ben Affleck? What connects you to it?”
Cox: “Well… I watched it once and then… I wanted to go and do my own thing.”
Cox shared that he watched Affleck's movie after he got the role himself, praising Affleck's performance as Matt Murdock even though he wasn't a big fan of the movie. While complaining about how many characters the movie tried to stuff into the plot, he also flat-out said that he thought "the suit sucks" when looking at Affleck's garb:
“No, after I got the role. I hadn’t seen it before I got the role. I watched it when I got the role and, to be fair… I think Ben Affleck does a really good Matt Murdock, I like his Matt Murdock… I don’t love the movie… I feel like the movie tried to do too much and it was a little tonally confused. They had everyone in that movie, they had Kingpin, they had Bullseye, they had Elektra, they had Karen Page, they had Foggy. It was saturated and it’s two hours. So that was part of that problem. And the suit sucks!”
Cox Holds Nothing Back on Daredevil Suit
Although the MCU wouldn't be where it is today without early movies like Daredevil, it can be rough looking back on what those films delivered as the final result.
Affleck's Matt Murdock utilized a blood-red, full leather suit with a collar and a horned mask that boasted the same color scheme - complete with "DD" on the chest. The outfit looked like something of a biker suit, and fans only had one scene depicting how the character got into it, which mostly consisted of Matt showing off his abilities with his cane.
While the suit Affleck wore looked fairly comic-book-accurate, Charlie Cox's take got to improve on the suit both aesthetically and as a part of his story. Netflix's Matt Murdock only got that final suit in the last episode of Season 1, and when it came, it felt like everything a Daredevil costume should be as the hero fought Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin.
Now, it seems to be only a matter of time until Cox revisits that suit after appearing as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home. There are even rumors of him getting an even more comic-accurate suit upon his rumored return in She-Hulk, but regardless of what happens, he has the benefit of excellent modern-day costuming at his disposal.
All three seasons of Cox's Daredevil will be available to stream on Disney+ starting March 16.
