Netflix’s Daredevil star Charlie Cox says that Ben Affleck’s performance in the 2003 film Daredevil “is fantastic.” A dozen years after Affleck disappointed fans by playing Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Fox’s feature film debut of Daredevil, Cox finally gave the Marvel faithful the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen they were hoping for with Netflix’s Daredevil, which brought the gritty edge to the character that Affleck’s film failed to provide.

His turn as Murdock/Daredevil in 2015 was definitely a breakthrough role for Cox, who went on to reprise the character for a second seaso nin 2016 opposite Elodie Yung as Elektra Natchios and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher; and again in 2017 for The Defenders with Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage and Finn Jones as Danny Rand/The Iron Fist.

Now, as Cox prepares for the release of the third season of Daredevil later this year, the question of what he thought of Affleck’s turn as the horned superhero is being brought up again, and again, and Cox appears to be playing things safe. Taking a question at Comicpalooza in Houston, Texas, Saturday, Cox (via Comic Book) relayed his thoughts with a laugh, saying:

While Cox is clearly being respectful and diplomatic with his answer about Affleck, he’s apparently not afraid to knock Daredevil as a whole, which was directed by Mark Steven Johnson (who went on to direct another lambasted Marvel superhero film, Ghost Rider, starring Nicolas Cage). Simply put, Cox says, “I don’t like the film.” He adds:

“Personally, I think … I’m just laughing because 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.”

There’s no question that Cox’s Daredevil has taken on the sinister feel for Netflix’s mature version of the street defender created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett for Marvel Comics in April 1964, and thankfully the Marvel Netflix companion series’ Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders have all adopted a similar tone. And given the ambiguous ending of The Defenders, where Daredevil and Elektra are both presumed dead, it will be thrilling to see what sort of wicked turns are in store for Season 3.

“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. In my opinion the best Daredevil comics are the ones that are geared towards a slightly more mature audience and I think that what the show captures is that level of sinister, dark tone, I guess. But I like Ben Affleck’s Matt Murdock.”

In a bit of irony, Cox appears to be going down the Affleck film route for the upcoming season of Daredevil, as not only will the upcoming episodes feature his nemesis, Wilson Fisk/Kingin (Vincent D’Onofrio), but the debut of the iconic villain Bullseye, as a leak of swag from the series suggests. Affleck, of course, faced off against Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) in the 2003 film, as well as Bullseye (Colin Farrell). Fans may remember that Jennifer Garner starred as Elektra in the 2003 Daredevil film as well, prior to her lead role in a 2005 Elektra spinoff.

Source: Comic Book