Longtime friendsMatt DamonandBen Affleckbecame international stars after writing and starring in the 1997 dramaGood Will Hunting. Just a few years later,Matt Damonbecame a bona fide action star inThe Bourne Identity, although Ben Affleck suffered a temporary career setback, or sorts, by starring in the comic book adaptationDaredevil, which wasn’t received too well by fans and critics alike. BothMatt Damonand Ben Affleck are at the top of their game now, with the former starring in the critically-acclaimed sci-fi dramaThe Martianand the latter taking on the iconic role of Batman in next year’sBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While promotingThe Martian,Matt Damonrevealed he was actually offered theDaredevilrole first, but he passed because he wasn’t familiar enough with directorMark Steven Johnson’s work.
“For us it was alwaysDaredevil- that’s the comic we read when we were kids. But when that one came along (in 2003) I chickened out, because I couldn’t tell. I hadn’t seen the director (Mark Steven Johnson’s) work and I didn’t know. So I just said, ‘No.’ Ben was like, ‘I gotta do it.’ And the movie ended up doing very well, even though I don’t think Ben was ultimately very proud of it.”
Matt Damon’s assessment ofDaredevildoing “very well” may be a stretch, since the movie earned $179.1 million worldwide from a $78 million budget. While it certainly wasn’t a box office flop, it didn’t set the world on fire either.Ben Affleckrevealed in a 2014 interview thatDaredevilis the only movie he regrets doing because he loved the character and the story so much, and the fact that it got “f—ed up” still stays with him. He added that failure may have been part of the motivation to take on theBatmanrole inBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
As forMatt Damon, the actor added that he would consider playing asuperheroif the right role came along. For instance, the actor said that ifChristopher Nolanwas doingDaredevil,Damonwould sign on, but that scenario is quite improbable. Marvel won the rights back to the character from 20th Century Fox in 2013, launching their popularMarvel’s DaredevilTV series on Netflix earlier this year. Production is under way on the second season, and it doesn’t seem that the studio has any plans on moving the character to the big screen quite yet.
Matt Damonrecently started production on theBourne 5, which Universal Pictures has slated for release on July 18, 2025. AfterThe Martianhits theaters next weekend, the actor will next be seen inThe Great WallandDownsizing. Do you think the 2003Daredevilmovie would have turned out better withMatt Damoninstead of Ben Affleck? Let us know what you think below.
