Trivia / Daredevil (2003)

• Ability over Appearance: The Kingpin, traditionally a large, bald white man◊, was played by Michael Clarke Duncan. He was the best actor with the size that they could find, and even then, he had to gain some weight and wear padding for the role. This carried over into the short-lived Mainframe animated Spider-Man: The New Animated Series series on MTV, to the point of actually having Michael Clarke Duncan voice the character. Incidentally the most famous Kingpin before that, of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, was voiced by Roscoe Lee Browne, who was also black.
• Banned in China: The movie was banned in Malaysia for violence.
• California Doubling: Los Angeles doubled for New York. And that's because plans to film in Montreal were scuppered by a strike.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Colin Farrell was initially considered for Daredevil, while Ben Affleck was considered for Bullseye.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Ben Affleck does not look back on this experience fondly. Although he was an avid fan of the original comics, he hated how the final product turned out. He also stated that wearing a costume was "a source of humiliation". Considering his taking up Batman's cape and cowl, though, it may have been the backlash from the Hollywood Hype Machine more than anything.
  • Averted with Writer/Director Mark Steven Johnson - you would expect him to dislike the theatrical cut of the film due to Executive Meddling that left an entire subplot on the cutting room floor, but on the Daredevil: Director's Cut DVD, he states that whilst he likes some of the scenes added to the theatrical cut, he feels the Director's Cut was a superior film due to keeping various elements cut from the original release.
• Deleted Role: A subplot with a character framed for murder by a corrupt cop and played by Coolio was removed, primarily to make the film shorter, and get it a PG-13 rating. However, Coolio was featured in trailers for the film. The subplot can be seen in the director's cut of the movie however.
• Disowned Adaptation: Stan Lee disliked the film, because he felt the film was "too tragic" and didn't follow how he wrote Daredevil. It should be noted though, that the film was taking inspiration from Frank Miller's influential run instead of Stan's. Though Kevin Smith claimed that Stan at the very least liked it more than most people.
• DVD Bonus Content: Features the standard extra features, such as a director's commentary and other behind the scenes features but one of the unique features at the time of release was an Audio Description track for visually impaired people. Several cast and crew members insisted on it. There's nothing particularly unique about an Audio Description track now; they are found on many DVD releases (Particularly Blu-Ray). However, at the time (2003), there were under 20 DVDs released to the general public with audio description, and Blu-Ray would not be released for three more years.
• DVD Commentary:
  • The DVD includes a commentary track in the most literal sense. While most blind people are familiar with a commentary track describing the action onscreen allowing them to "watch" a movie, back then, those tracks were not typically included on wide-release videos and DVD. Daredevil includes the commentary track for the blind — fitting, as Daredevil is a blind superhero — which explains the actions onscreen as they happen. It's an interesting experience to "watch" the movie with your eyes closed and that commentary on to get a feel for how the blind see movies.
  • There's also a funny moment when director Mark Steven Johnson openly admits that an effect looks terrible—towards the end when Daredevil awkwardly leaps upwards between two buildings onto a roof—and tells the audience to look away for thirty seconds and then come back. Even better is when you watch the behind-the-scenes and realise it could have been much worse.
• Dyeing for Your Art: When Michael Clarke Duncan was cast, he weighed two hundred ninety pounds. He was asked to gain forty pounds for the role, in order to fit the physique of Kingpin. In order to do this, he would lift weights for thirty minutes a day, and power-lifted with one or two reps a day, as well as eating whatever he wanted.
• Enforced Method Acting: Ben Affleck was virtually blind, as he had to wear heavy-duty contact lenses, which blocked out most of his vision.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Why the theatrical version was met with a mixed reaction, but the director's cut was more warmly received. Fox smelled potential spin-off with Elektra, so an entire subplot concerning Matt Murdock's "lawyer by day" persona (with his case eventually leading him to the Kingpin) was removed completely. His internal struggle with his vigilante justice clashing with his faith additionally take a backseat to increased screen time for Elektra and their love angle, and the film cut down on the intended Darker and Edgier tone. As a result upon its release, Daredevil nearly became the first film to not cross the $100 million domestic barrier after a $40 million opening, and Elektra completely tanked. Thankfully, the director's cut Set Right What Once Went Wrong.
  • Notorious Fox executive Tom Rothman insisted on the excessive CGI in the film so that it would be more like Spider-Man.
  • A different form occurred on the DVD release, where both the cast and crew insisted that an Audio Description be included, making it one of the first films to do so.
• Fake Nationality: The Greek-American Elektra Natchios is played by very not-Greek Jennifer Garner, so is her on-screenfather Erick Avari.
• Follow the Leader: The original intention was for the film to be more realistic action instead of the Wire Fu and CG-laden Roof Hopping (essentially the approach the Netflix series took). While in production, the hype of Spider-Man with its big action sequences had them rework the fight scenes to be comparable.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Colin Farrell had never ridden a motorcycle before filming the assassination of Nikolas Natchios.
• No Budget: The film's budget was miniscule for a project of this size, with Ben Affleck often learning his fight choreography right before shooting because there simply wasn't any money for training in pre-production. Behind-the-scenes videos often show director Mark Steven Johnson asking if something can be fixed or reshot, only to be told there were no funds available.
• No Stunt Double:
  • Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner did the playground fight themselves.
  • While Affleck had doubles, he did a few things himself, such as when the Kingpin slams Daredevil into a glass window.
• The Other Darrin: In the Brazilian dub of the theatrical cut, Kingpin was dubbed by Paulo Flores. This would be one of Flores' last performances, as he would pass away on May of the same year. As a result, the dub of the Director's cut casts Mauricio Berger as Fisk.
• Playing Against Type: Joe Pantoliano usually plays villains, weasels and general sleazebags. Here, he plays Ben Urich who is unambiguously on the side of good throughout, working to take down Kingpin's empire and even keeps Matt's identity a secret.
• Promoted Fanboy: Ben Affleck was reportedly a fan of the Daredevil comics as a kid and wrote the foreword for the collection of Daredevil issues his buddy Kevin Smith wrote.
• Romance on the Set: Ben Affleck was still involved with Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Garner with Scott Foley at the time, but after those relationships ended, Affleck and Garner became married with children for ten years. The scene with Matt and Elektra on the rooftop, and Matt's monologue near the end, about how positively Elektra's love has affected him, seems a lot more meaningful after that...
• Saved from Development Hell: 20th Century Fox first acquired the film rights in 1997. Chris Columbus was initially attached to direct. The following year, Marvel was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, so Fox let the option slide. Disney then expressed an interest, but that didn't pan out. Mark Steven Johnson realized his life's ambition in 1999, when Marvel assigned the rights to Sony and he was hired to write the screenplay. However, the following year, Sony put the project in turnaround. It was picked up by New Regency with Fox distributing, but Johnson found himself having to (successfully) re-pitch himself for the writing and directing gig.
• Scully Box: Used on Michael Clarke Duncan of all people. While he is every bit as imposing as his comics counterpart at 6'5", They still had to make him appear more imposing when next to Ben Affleck, who stands at 6'4". Helped by the fact that Duncan is far more muscular than Affleck, making him seem bigger.
• Star-Making Role: Evanescence's contributions to the film's soundtrack gave them exposure and officially launched the band's career.
• Stillborn Franchise: Mark Steven Johnson showed interest in a sequel that would adapt Born Again, as well as having Mr. Fear as a possible villain. Ben Affleck stated he would only return in the lead role if Fox would renegotiate to tell the darker stories of Daredevil, and showed interest in a Kevin Smith graphic novel which included Mysterio, as well as Born Again. Michael Clarke Duncan expressed an interest in returning as Kingpin. It ultimately never happened and the character reverted back to Marvel, where he made a much more well-received comeback.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Matt Damon and Guy Pearce were approached for the role of Matt Murdock before Ben Affleck was cast. Damon turned down the offer due to Creative Differences over the script, while Pearce declined due to his lack of interest in comic book movies. Pearce would later change his mind about the genre and portrayed Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3.
    • Patrick Wilson, Edward Norton, and Vin Diesel were considered for the titular part as well before the casting of Affleck. Norton would later go on to play Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk (2008) while Diesel would portray Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
  • Jolene Blalock, Mia Maestro, and Rhona Mitra were the final contenders for the role of Elektra Natchios before the casting of Jennifer Garner.
    • Penélope Cruz, Lucy Liu, Jessica Alba, Katie Holmes, Salma Hayek, Kate Winslet and Natalie Portman were also considered for the part of Elektra Natchios before the casting of Garner. Alba would later go on to play Susan Storm in the Fantastic Four Duology, while Portman would go on to play Jane Foster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
  • Brett Cullen was considered for Jack Murdock and Donal Logue was considered for Foggy Nelson.
  • The director's cut was intended to be included on the original DVD release, but ultimately the idea was dropped due to lack of disc space.

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