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Daredevil is a 2003 superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil. Jennifer Garner plays his love interest Elektra Natchios, Colin Farrell plays the perfectly-aimed assassin Bullseye and Michael Clarke Duncan plays Wilson Fisk, also known as the crime lord Kingpin.
The film began development in 1997 at 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures, before New Regency acquired the rights in 2000. Johnson wrote the screenplay and pushed Avi Arad to be able to direct it as well. He chose to shoot the film primarily in Downtown Los Angeles despite the Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan setting of the film and the comics. Rhythm and Hues Studios were hired to handle CGI, and Steve Boeddeker did the sound engineering. Varèse Sarabande released the score for Daredevil, composed by Graeme Revell.
Reviews for Daredevil were generally mixed or average, but did well enough to allow a spin-off film, Elektra, which was released in 2005. A vastly-different, R-rated director's cut of the film was released in 2005, including about 30 minutes of scenes cut at the last minute from the theatrical release.

Cast

• Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock / Daredevil: An attorney-at-law with a disability. He was blinded as a youth in a radioactive accident that also drastically heightened his remaining senses and gave him a "radar-sense", which allowed him to perceive his surroundings. After this, he makes a silent promise with his father to "stick up for the long shots". His father is killed not long after and at that moment, he vows to seeks justice by any means. At night, Murdock becomes Daredevil, and takes justice into his hands. Affleck was cast in October 2001. Vin Diesel was considered to portray Daredevil before him, but he opted to take a role from another film. Colin Farrell was also considered until Affleck signed. As a fan, Affleck made sure he had read every single issue of Daredevil, commenting that it was about taking what he knew as a fan and faithfully getting it on the screen. Joe Quesada considered it "serendipity in action" that Affleck is the lead role, as when he and Kevin Smith did the Guardian Devil series, they had modelled it on Affleck. Affleck said Daredevil was his favourite comic book as a kid, and explained why he took the role by saying "Everybody has that one thing from childhood that they remember and that sticks with them. This story was that for me." He also stated another reason, being "I didn't want someone else to do it, because I was afraid that they would go out and do it different from the comic and screw it up."
  
  • Scott Terra as Young Matt Murdock: As a youth, he has trouble with local bullies and a close bond with his father. This changes in different ways after the accident. Terra was officially announced as a part of the cast in March 2002.

• Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios: Daughter of billionaire Nikolas Natchios and the love interest of Matt Murdock. At a very young age she witnessed the murder of her mother, and since then her father has had her become highly trained in martial arts. For the role of Elektra, many actresses were looked into with considerations including Penélope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Natalie Portman, Lucy Liu, Jessica Alba, and Katie Holmes. A short-list was eventually made, giving the choices of Jennifer Garner, Jolene Blalock, Mía Maestro and Rhona Mitra, with Garner finally becoming the actress to land the role. Garner said of the character, "I think she's strong and cool and beautiful and smart. She'd be a good role model." Garner noted that the costume would be different as Elektra often wears red satin, but in the film she wears black leather. Garner explained "the red would never have worked for hiding a harness, and I know this sounds ridiculous, but you have to protect your skin a little bit. They throw me around so much on the rooftop [that] I got cut through the leather, so imagine if I hadn't had anything."

• Colin Farrell as Bullseye: An assassin with perfect accuracy and deep-rooted pride of it. Bullseye is hired by Kingpin to kill Nikolas and Elektra Natchios, but when Daredevil gets involved and causes Bullseye to miss his target, he makes it his own personal vendetta to take Daredevil down. Farrell was attached to the role in December 2001. For the film, the traditional Bullseye costume was not used in the film, a reason for which Mark Steven Johnson credited Joe Quesada for talking him out of. Also, Farrell was encouraged to keep his Irish accent as this version of Bullseye is from Ireland. Farrell had to read into Frank Miller's Daredevil comics to understand Bullseye "because the expression on the character's faces in the comic books, and just the way they move sometimes, and the exaggerations of the character I'm playing […] he's so over-the-top that you do draw from that. But it's not exactly a character you can do method acting for... you know, running around New York killing people with paper clips."

• Michael Clarke Duncan as Wilson Fisk / The Kingpin: By appearance, he is an overweight corporate head that takes the name Wilson Fisk, but in fact he is the sole person running organised crime, under the moniker of Kingpin. Kingpin is the murderer of Murdock's father, and the man responsible for the hiring of Bullseye, with intention of having the Natchios family murdered. Michael Clarke Duncan signed on for the role in January 2002, though he had been attached far earlier. When Duncan was cast, he weighed 290 pounds. He was asked to gain 40 pounds for the role in order to fit the physique of Kingpin. In order to do this, he would lift weights for 30 minutes a day, and power-lifted with one or two reps a day, as well as eating whatever he wanted. Despite this, Duncan's biggest concern was that he is black, whilst Kingpin has always been portrayed with having white ethnicity. He spoke on the fan's loyalty to the source material by saying "they watch movies to say, 'Hey, that's not like the comic book.' But I want them to get past that and just see the movie for what it is and see me for what I am — an actor."

• Jon Favreau as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson: Matt Murdock's legal partner and best friend, he is also used as a form of comic relief. Favreau joined the cast in February 2002.

• Joe Pantoliano as Ben Urich: An investigative journalist whose articles notably relate to Daredevil, and the Kingpin. During the film, he goes on to uncover a lot of information about the two. Pantoliano was cast in March 2002.

• David Keith as Jack Murdock: Father of Matt Murdock and a boxer, he is murdered by the Kingpin when he doesn't take a fall for a fight. Keith was officially announced as a part of the cast in March 2002.

• Leland Orser as Wesley Owen Welch: The number two of Wilson Fisk, but he doesn't like to be involved in the activities of the Kingpin.

• Erick Avari as Nikolas Natchios: The father of Elektra, who is murdered by Bullseye on behalf of the Kingpin.

• Ellen Pompeo as Karen Page: The secretary at Matt Murdock and Franklin Nelson's law firm.

• Derrick O'Connor as Father Everett: A priest of Matt Murdock's local church, where he sometimes goes to find solace.

Stan Lee, Frank Miller and Kevin Smith, each notable for their work on the Daredevil comics, also have cameo roles throughout the film. The Director's Cut version also features Jude Ciccolella and Coolio in a sub-plot removed from the theatrical version.

Production

Development

In 1997, 20th Century Fox optioned the rights from Marvel Enterprises, and Chris Columbus was chosen to direct the film. In 1998, Marvel was facing bankruptcy. During this time 20th Century Fox allowed the option to expire, so Disney began negotiations in order to acquire the rights. In 1999, the negotiations failed to work out so Marvel sets the project up with Sony's Columbia Pictures. During this time, Chris Columbus and Carlo Carlei co-wrote a script together, before Mark Steven Johnson got signed to write the screenplay. By 2000, Sony decided to cancel the project, as the two companies reportedly couldn't come to an agreement over Internet rights.
New Regency entered negotiations with a more satisfying offer, attaining the character rights from Marvel in 2000 to produce the film, with 20th Century Fox handling the distribution. Mark Steven Johnson had to pitch himself again in order to show he's suitable for the job, and became rehired. Johnson's script was turned in in 2001, which was praised by Ain't It Cool News' Harry Knowles. Prior to shooting, producer Gary Foster said that in comparison to other comic book-based films before it, this film would be "more character-driven ... darker ... edgier," whilst Marvel Studios Executive Kevin Feige felt the script was one of the strongest comic scripts Marvel had received.

Filming

20th Century Fox wanted to start filming in Canada in order to save money. This plan was contended by Mark Steven Johnson, and the film's cinematographer, Ericson Core, after they found a preferred area for shooting around downtown Los Angeles' Arcade Building. Core noted that the appeal came from the "beautiful, old brick buildings and great rooftops," which they felt was perfect for a depiction of Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, in comparison to the studio's choice where the filming would be done in Montreal or Vancouver. Due to their insistence, coupled with Ben Affleck's disinterest in filming in Canada (after having filmed there for his previous film, The Sum of All Fears) they were able to overturn the studio's mind.
When the look of the film was being decided, Mark Steven Johnson opted to use direct scenes from the Daredevil comics. Joe Quesada's Guardian Devil was an influence on the film, with Johnson noting that they would "literally take out a scene from the comic book that Joe did […] Here's Daredevil on the cross, you know, it's that scene from 'Guardian Devil'. You just shoot that." Throughout the film, Ben Affleck had to wear "cataract milky-blue" contacts, which would effectively make him blind. This was considered great by Johnson, as it would aid his performance.

Effects

The sound plays an integral part in the film, as the superhero relies on it in order to form his 'radar sense'. The sound was engineered by Steve Boeddeker and is heard taking place immediately after Matt's optic nerve is seen mutating. The mutating of the nerve was done by Rhythm and Hues Studios, who also worked on the radar-sense which became referred to as "shadow world." Shadow world was made using just CGI except in a scene where Elektra and Matt Murdock are in the rain, the scene was done using CGI over film.

References to Daredevil creators

The film contained many nods to Daredevil comic writes and artists throughout the film, and these included the following:

• Stan Lee, Daredevil's co-creator, makes a cameo appearance in the movie when he is stopped by young and blind Matt Murdock from walking in front of a speeding bus.
• Frank Miller, a prominent Daredevil comic writer, is shown in a cameo as a corpse with a pen in his head, whose motorcycle Bullseye takes. The credits list Frank Miller as "Man with Pen in Head."
• In the scene with Matt Murdock's father, Jack Murdock, fighting, the sign outside the arena reads "Jack 'the Devil' Murdock vs. John Romita." John Romita was an artist in the 1960s who worked on the Daredevil comic books. His son, John Romita Jr., pencilled the comic in the 80s.
• Also in the boxing sequence, Jack Murdock is talking to Fallon, who orders Jack to lose. During the conversation, Fallon lists all of his fighters, whose names are "Miller...Mack...Bendis." This is a reference to some of the Daredevil comics writers: Frank Miller, David Mack and Brian Michael Bendis.
• The character José Quesada's name is a reference to Marvel's editor-in-chief, Joe Quesada, who also did the artwork for a Daredevil storyline written by Kevin Smith, who makes a cameo in the film as the morgue worker Kirby, which is a reference to comic book legend Jack Kirby. Also referred to only in dialogue is Mr. Lee, another reference to Stan Lee.
• The character Father Everett's name is a reference to co-creator Bill Everett.