Daredevil Director Reveals The Incredible Hulk's Ed Norton Nearly Landed Role
If you are excited about Marvel's upcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again, it may boggle your mind to know that it has officially been 20 years since we first got Daredevil on the big screen in the 2003 Daredevil movie. Daredevil (2003) famously starred Ben Affleck in the titular role of Matt Murdock/Daredevil, and his future (ex-)wife Jennifer Garner as Elektra. In the time since its release and lackluster reception, Daredevil (2003) has grown into a cult-hit legend, with the Director's Cut gaining acclaim, and countless anecdotes coming out that sound so wild in a world where Marvel content no dominates the entertainment industry.
In a new 20th anniversary feature on Daredevil (2003), the film's writer/director, Mark Steven Johnson, about what it took to get Daredevil into production. Funny enough, Johnson revealed that another future Marvel Cinematic Universe (kind of...) star, Edward Norton (The Incredible Hulk), nearly stole the role of Daredevil right out from under Ben Affleck!
"It was definitely one of those roles where everyone was being mentioned," Johnson explained to Yahoo! "There were a lot of people in the mix. I don't remember if I met with Guy [Pearce], but I did meet with Edward Norton... I met with a couple of other actors, too, but Ben was a fan of Daredevil because of Kevin Smith, so it ended up being him. And then he became Batman!"
It's no secret by now that Guy Pearce and Ben Affleck's BFF Matt Damon both considered taking on the role of Daredevil and even went through certain respective levels of the audition process. Edward Norton is a more surprising name to hear – and definitely an intriguing pick for Matt Murdock/Daredevil. Johnson's Daredevil script was embraced largely for being a darker and edgier character-driven piece, in a time long before that style of a superhero movie would become en vogue (and ultimately tired) in the 2010s. Ed Norton was ironically criticized for trying to inject deeper, edgier, character drama into his performance as Bruce Banner/Hulk in Marvel Studios' The Incredible Hulk; one can only imagine what Norton would've brought to Johnson's Daredevil story. In any event, Ben Affleck would clearly bring that darker edgier superhero vision to Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman, over a decade later.
Mark Steven Johnson also spoke on the anecdote of Seth Rogen almost becoming Daredevil's Foggy Nelson, before future Marvel Cinematic Universe co-creator (and Iron Man director) Jon Favreau got the role!
"I also remember Seth Rogen coming in to read for Foggy Nelson. He was so funny, and we loved him, but I was also like: 'Dude, how old are you?' He was probably 21 or 22 at the time – way too young to be a lawyer!
Daredevil: Born Again is in development at Marvel Studios.