Superhero movies have retaken Hollywood over the last few years, with franchise reboots of Spiderman, Batman and The Avengers—including offshoots starring Iron Man, Thor and Captain America—finally figuring out how to do the comic book genre justice. It’s easy to forget just how long superheroes were stuck in the dark ages, though, as studios treated them and their fans with little respect.
Remember George Clooney as Batman? Ben Affleck as Daredevil? The half-baked Catwoman and Elektra villain spinoffs? While studios have been happy to cash in on moviegoers’ fascination with superhero flicks, none of the productions seemed to take the title characters or their stories very seriously.
Then something changed. Sin City, the black-as-an-oil-slick 2005 adaptation of Frank Miller’s classic graphic novel—as well as the mammoth success of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins—showed audiences craved deep characters and engaging stories, even in big budget blockbusters.
Now that quality comic book movies are in vogue in Hollywood, it’s high time some of our favourite heroes got the proper cinematic treatments they deserve.
Joseph Gordon Levitt as Daredevil?
Daredevil
It’ll be hard to distance the Daredevil name from the 2003 theatrical mess it spawned. That film had a talented cast, including Ben Affleck and future wife Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell and the late Michael Clarke Duncan, but Affleck as the lead—this was during his Gigli days, remember—doomed the film from the start.
Matt Murdock’s path to becoming Daredevil began as a child, when he was blinded by radioactive waste that in turn heightened his other senses. Murdock used his newfound abilities while training in martial arts and, after his father was murdered by mobsters, took to fighting crime as a lawyer by day and as Daredevil by night.
Daredevil is supposed to be a cocky and carefree when in superhero mode—hence the nickname, “The Man Without Fear”—but as plain old Matt Murdock, he’s as mild-mannered as Clark Kent. Who else but Joseph Gordon Levitt could be trusted to give equal weight to each facet of Daredevil without being either too goofy or too mopey?
