It’s been over two years since the second season of Marvel’s Daredevil was dropped and anticipation for season 3 is palpable. Star of the titular character, Charlie Cox is undoubtedly one of the reasons behind that offering the perfect fit for Matt Murdock. Cox’s Daredevil not only gave us one of the best television crime dramas in the past few years but has also helped in forgetting the god-awful feature length film adaptation of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen those years back.
Released in 2003 and starring Ben Affleck, Daredevil (film) was met with mixed reviews (and that’s putting it lightly) with a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes and a current IMDb rating of 5.3/10. It’s safe to say that no one likes this one and it’ll be easy to blame on Affleck but it seems that Cox wouldn’t do so.
According to Comicbook, Cox made an appearance at Comicpalooza and was asked on who he thought was the better Daredevil: Affleck or himself. He didn’t really answer the question but did express some admiration for Affleck’s portrayal as Matt Murdock, stating:
“I get asked this a lot and sadly I’m going to say the same thing that I’ve said before. I happen to think Ben Affleck’s performance as Daredevil is fantastic. I really like his Matt Murdock … I stole a lot of stuff”
Cox doesn’t share the same sentiment with the film overall however expressing the tone of the film as a particular problem stating:
“I don’t like the film. The original Daredevil film I don’t think that worked particularly well and the reason I don’t think it worked particularly well is that what we discovered with the show is that the tone of the character suits a slightly darker, more sinister feel”
Cox’s claims in regards to the tone is true as the film did not capture the sinister feel of Hell’s Kitchen. The show however had a darker presence and far more weight unlike the film which had an air of camp that didn’t really work well. It can be argued that Affleck held his own weight and was good in the film but Cox will most likely be the one remembered for the role in the years to come. However, Cox’s portrayal of Matt Murdock does seem to draw some inspiration from Affleck’s.
Or maybe it’s just the glasses…
Source: Comicbook
