Though director Mark Steven Johnson’s 2003 movie Daredevil ended up being met with mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and fans, at the time of its production, some big stars were raring to be in it.
In a recent interview with Yahoo, Johnson revealed a few big contenders for the different roles in Daredevil. When asked about the casting process, the director explained that the studio wanted a star to play the main character due to how unknown Daredevil was to general audiences at that time.
“Yes, they definitely wanted a star because the character was so unknown and they felt it needed the help of a star,” Johnson said. “The budget was around $75 million, which was a good-sized budget back then, though by today’s standards it’s more like an independent film! So there was a lot of pressure, and they wanted a name.”
When asked about whether he met Guy Pearce and Matt Damon, who both reportedly passed on the role, Johnson gave a few names of major actors who tried out for the movie.
“It was definitely one of those roles where everyone was being mentioned. There were a lot of people in the mix,” Johnson explained. “I don’t remember if I met with Guy, but I did meet with Edward Norton. 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! 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!”
Daredevil released in 2003 to mixed reviews, with its reception amongst fans becoming more negative over the years. A 2005 spin-off, Elektra, was released to further negative reception and was a commercial failure, ending any chance of a sequel. The characters of Daredevil and Elektra would later be revisited in Netflix’s Daredevil series, which received substantially higher praise.