Before the DCEU and Batfleck, there was the 2003 Daredevil film.
In the 2000s, following the success of Blade and X-Men, superhero films were pretty much all the rage even though there were plenty of non-superhero projects. 2002 saw the release of Sam Rami's Spider-Man and the following year of 2003 saw the release of Ang Lee's Hulk along with the subject of today...
Daredevil.
The Man Without Fear.
The Devil of Hell's Kitchen.
Matt Murdock was blinded by an accident with chemicals when he was a boy, but he gained the extraordinary ability of echolocation, able to hear heartbeats to tell when someone is honest or is lying. After his father, a famous boxer, was killed by goons, Matt took up crime-fighting after years of training and became Daredevil. By day, he's a lawyer. By night, he's a vigilante. Created by Stan Lee, who also made Spider-Man, Daredevil is one of the many characters who is the Batman of Marvel comics. Daredevil stories were originally light-hearted, especially in an era where comics were aimed at younger readers, but, as times changed, Daredevil became darker and aimed at an older crowd and stopped pulling punches with Daredevil's enemies, such as Bullseye, becoming sadistic and murderous.
And this is where we get to the 2003 film. Beforehand, Daredevil had shown up in 1989's Trial of The Incredible Hulk, played by Rex Smith, and cropped up in the 1990s Spider-Man animated series with his voice provided by Edward Albert. Work on the film began in 1997, but due to the project passing to different studios, Daredevil more or less had a period of development hell until 20th Century Fox got the rights. Ben Affleck was cast as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, the role of Elektra went to Jennifer Garner, and the late Michael Clarke Duncan was cast as Kingpin Wilson Fisk. Fisk is usually a Spider-Man villain, but starting in the 80s, the Kingpin became a member of Daredevil's rogues gallery as well and, in his live-action appearances, has only faced the Daredevil but never Spider-Man. Long story, its due to rights stuff.
Bullseye, Daredevil's most iconic enemy, shows up in this film, played by the incredible Irish actor Collin Ferrel, who was perfectly cast in my opinion and is a heck of a scene-chewer. He's sadistic, cold-blooded and kills Elektra, even though she came back in the spin-off and 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine. Bullseye mostly serves as the film's secondary antagonist, leaving the role of the main antagonist to Duncan's Kingpin, which is the only time in a live-action Marvel project where Wilson Fisk is Black, and, every moment he is on-screen, Duncan is intimidating as the Kingpin and doesn't hold back during the final battle with Affleck's Daredevil.
The soundtrack in this film is nicely-orchestrated, setting the tone for the film's story and the action scenes, delivering an energetic vibe often expected in 2000s action films, and the movie was filmed in Los Angeles even though Hell's Kitchen in New York is actually a real place. The action scenes in Daredevil are relatively thrilling, stylized and the battle in the church between Daredevil and Bullseye is pretty epic. Matt's fight with Kingpin at the end is suspenseful and the latter doesn't hold back, nearly beating The Man Without Fear. Daredevil 2003, the theatrical version, was a flop when it released, but it is actually a fun movie despite the tonal inconsistencies. However, there is an R-rated director's cut, which I have yet to see, where the film is more serious and some scenes in the PG-13 version are left out, such as Matt and Elektra making love at one point.
If you love superhero films and are looking for an early 2000s Marvel film that is fun, watch Daredevil on Disney Plus. Its worth the watch, worth your time and energy. 9/10.
-James M
