“Thank God we dodged a bullet”: Fear of Ben Afflec...

Studio fears of costume similarity nearly led to a drastic change for Daredevil’s look, avoiding a potential fan backlash.

In the early 2000s, following the success of the X-Men franchise kick-off, new ones started to brew up. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man starring Tobey Maguire and Mark Steven Johnson’s Daredevil starring Ben Affleck came forth as the front-runners releasing within a gap of about a year with the former coming out first. However, the iconic stint by the web-slinging superhero left a lasting impression on fans and became such a massive success that it almost ruined the outing of the vigilante from Hell’s Kitchen.

Regardless, of the early days of comic book movie production, the 2003 Daredevil film packed a punch and captured many’s imaginations. Additionally, it drew substantial praise for maintaining a significant level of comic accuracy with the character’s logo and the iconic horns on his mask being featured prominently. Yet, all of it came excruciatingly close to never even happening in the first place thanks to a slew of frantic calls made by the studio.

Spider-Man gave Daredevil a costume problem during early production

Sony helmed the Sam Raimi universe of Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films whereas the then 20th Century Fox oversaw the production of Ben Affleck’s Daredevil. In a behind-the-scenes production video for the latter, the costume designer shared receiving frantic calls from studio executives who demanded that “the whole concept has to completely change”. Moreover, they also worried about the reception of the iconic horns and wanted them removed.

A bigger incoming blow that thankfully got averted was the studio’s consideration to have Daredevil as “a guy who just wears a sweatshirt and jeans and he’s just a vigilante thug”. Thereafter, heavy discussions centered around the color red and the eye scheme, which again sparked comparisons with the Raimi movie. Furthermore, he also revealed earlier concepts of the suit which appeared black in a majority of scenes in the movie but was scrapped by the studio.

Ultimately, Ben Affleck donned a deep, dark red suit made of leather which gave it a dark and gritty texture. The mask featured angled lenses made of reflective glasses to hide Dardevil’s blindness quotient. Finally, much to the designer’s and fans’ relief, horns made their way onto the final concept with the iconic double ‘D’ emblem and a practical utility belt standing out as memorable highlights.

Why Daredevil would not have worked with a sweatshirt and jeans

Bringing over and trying to maintain his legacy from the comics, Daredevil stands more than just a street-level vigilante. The character’s association with fighting crimes while overcoming his disabilities is a signature aspect that calls for grit and determination. Putting him in a casual outfit would have ruined memorability and voided the narrative significance and visual evolution of the character’s larger-than-life persona while going against the grandeur and fantasy element associated with superhero films.

Taking due cognizance of it, subsequent reboots with Charlie Cox at the hands of Netflix and now the Marvel Studios have tried to maintain comic accuracy. The latter’s approach with the character in She: Hulk: Attorney at Law brought back the red and yellow comics scheme whereas the former opted for deep red and black. Moreover, with the actor reprising his role in the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again series, fans can expect new iterations and looks of additional suits.