Deadpool & Wolverine: Ben Affleck's Daredevil Was on a "70-Name Menu" of Marvel Cameos

"We never did a joke about or with anyone that we didn't run by them first."

By Cameron Bonomolo

How do you kill a man without fear? Off-screen. Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine features a roster of cameos and guest stars from across the multiverse: the Human Torch (Chris Evans), Gambit (Channing Tatum), X-23 (Dafne Keen), Blade (Wesley Snipes), and Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), the sais-wielding assassin from the 2003 film Daredevil and its 2005 spinoff Elektra. There's even a multiversal variant of Daredevil villain Bullseye (a recast Colin Farrell), but the titular hero (played by Garner's ex-husband Ben Affleck) never appears: he's revealed to have died before the events of the film alongside the Punisher, Quicksilver, and Magneto.

"Daredevil?" the fourth wall-breaking Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) gasps. "I'm so sorry." "It's fine," a nonchalant Elektra responds, referencing Affleck and Garner's divorce. In a new interview, director Shawn Levy revealed Garner approved the joke — and that Marvel Studios considered including Affleck's Daredevil in the film.

"Early on, when we were looking at a 70-name menu of Marvel characters, Daredevil was on one of those lists — but never since those earliest of conversations, and never to the point of outreach or offers or anything like that," Levy told Variety when asked if the former Batman star was in talks to make a Daredevil cameo.

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Footage from the Fox-made Marvel movies — including Daredevil, Elektra, and the Fantastic Four and X-Men movies — appears in a Green Day-performed montage tribute that rolls during the end credits. But that's where Affleck's role ends. "We made contact with everyone featured in the Fox tribute reel halfway through our end credits — and that's dozens of actors who have been a part of that legacy," Levy said. "That was fun to build a love letter to those years, those characters, and all the actors who played them."

Levy, who also directed Reynolds and Garner in 2022's The Adam Project, noted that the barbs referencing Garner and Hugh Jackman's divorces were in good fun.

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"We never did a joke about or with anyone that we didn't run by them first," Levy said. "Whether it was scripted, like the Daredevil line, or unscripted, like 'He's normally shirtless, but he's let himself go since the divorce,' which was more of on-set improv, Ryan or I would always run the lines by performers and make sure everyone felt comfortable and that we were never punching down. It was all in a playful spirit that everyone felt good about. Those lines wouldn't be in the movie if Hugh and Jen didn't think they were funny."

Other legacy Marvel characters considered for roles included Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider and the killed-off X-Men. Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing only in theaters.

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