When Ben Affleck Was ‘Humiliated’ By Batman V Superman Negative Reviews After Claiming Film Was Better Than 2003 Flop Daredevil: “Incredibly Unhappy About The Reception”
Ben Affleck played Marvel's blinded Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, in the 2003 film, which bombed with critics.
Ben Affleck Was ‘Humiliated’ By Batman V Superman Negative Reviews(Photo Credit –Wikimedia)
Advertisement
Ben Affleck, who portrayed Bruce Wayne/Batman in five projects over seven years, was once reportedly left humiliated by Batman v Superman’s negative reviews. The Guardian, citing the well-regarded fan site Birth.Movies.Death reported that Ben Affleck was “incredibly unhappy” about the derisive reviews of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice after he went around claiming the film was better than his Marvel character Daredevil, which was also poorly received.
Ben Affleck played Marvel’s blinded Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, in the 2003 film, which bombed with critics. The film has a 43% score. So when critics also slammed Aflleck’s portrayal of DC character Batman, he was reportedly humiliated by the negative reception.
Considering Affleck was stepping into the shoes of Christian Bale, who portrayed the iconic Gotham superhero in Christopher Nolan’s critically acclaimed films, his embarassment was valid.
Ben Affleck made his debut as the Caped Crusader in Zack Snyder’s divisive Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. While the film was a box office hit, raking in over $800M worldwide, it secured an even lower rating than Daredevil, scoring 23% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
In the wake of the negative reception, the Guardian citing the well-regarded fan site Birth.Movies.Death reported that the Oscar-winning film-maker was mortified after he talked up the film in promotional interviews. At the time, the site’s editor, Devin Fraci, said, “My sources have told me that Affleck was incredibly unhappy about the reception of BvS. He felt humiliated after spending so much of the press tour saying how much better this film would be than Daredevil.”
Farci also alleged Affleck was furious after Warner Bros CEO announced the actor and film-maker as the director of a forthcoming solo Batman project, which never came to pass after Affleck walked out on the film. The project eventually evolved into Matt Reeves’ 2022 Batman film starring Robert Pattinson.
