Daredevil (2003)
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing Mark Steven Johnson's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
- Before Ben Affleck was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
- The incredible score for Daredevil was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Ben Affleck stars as Matt Murdock, a blind attorney in New York's Hell's Kitchen who was blinded as a child by radioactive waste that enhanced his remaining senses to superhuman levels, allowing him to "see" the world through a radar-like echolocation. By night, Murdock fights crime as Daredevil, a masked vigilante seeking justice that the legal system can't provide.
When his investigation of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime played by Michael Clarke Duncan, intersects with his growing romance with the martial arts-trained Elektra Natchios, played by Jennifer Garner, both his identities are put in jeopardy. The film received mixed reviews, with the theatrical cut criticized for tonal inconsistency, though a 30-minute longer Director's Cut released on home video was significantly better received. Colin Farrell's wildly theatrical Bullseye was an entertaining villain.
Daredevil earned $179 million worldwide on a $78 million budget. Ben Affleck later cited the experience as motivation for his more carefully chosen subsequent projects.
