Daredevil (Daredevil 2003)

:This page is about the incarnation of Daredevil from the 2003 movie. The mainstream version can be found here: Daredevil or if you want the incarnation of Daredevil from Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's right here: Daredevil (Marvel Cinematic Universe).
Matthew "Matt" Murdock is the titular protagonist of the 2003 film, Daredevil and a mentioned character of the 2024 Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Deadpool & Wolverine. He is a blind lawyer who protects those who are not handled well by the Justice System and in the nights, he is a costumed superhero vigilante known as Daredevil.
He was portrayed by who also played Batman in the DC Extended Universe, Joseph in Joseph: King of Dreams, AJ Frost in Armageddon and Chris Wolff in The Accountant.
==Biography==
=== Daredevil ===
Note: These are scenes that were in the Director's Cut.
Matthew Murdock was a boy who was threateningly bullied by three kids on the streets of New York City. He was forbidden by his father, Jack "the Devil" Murdock, to be a fighter like him and tells Matt he should stay in school and focus more on books.
One day after school, Matt first stopped by at his father's job in the construction site so he can tell him how good he was doing in school. He asked one of the workers if he was there, but the worker said no and told him to get lost.
Matt dropped his report card on a puddle. Matt was on his way home until he heard someone getting mugged. He walked towards the alley and was stunned to see his father mugging an innocent man.
Unable to stand the fact of what he saw his father doing, he ran away as his father tried to stop him.
Matt stopped as a truck was about to hit him which caused the truck to make a detour, piercing some toxic waste canisters, spilling the waste into Matt's eyes, which caused him to go blind.
He woke up at the hospital, as he heard loud sounds and had a strange vision, looking like a car was going to hit him.
He was nervous and didn't seem to know what was going on. Later, Jack came in and Matt explained that he is blind after overhearing what the doctor said to his father. Jack apologized and Matt gave him a hug.
Matt now wears sunglasses due to his blindness and reads in Braille. He soon discovered that, despite losing his sight, his four remaining senses functioned with superhuman sharpness like a radar sense.
He demonstrated by punching on a mini punching bag. He soon discovered he had more flexibility and the entire city was his playground. He even had the ability to stand up against the kids who bullied him. He became the boy without fear.
One fateful night, he watched his father in the ring fighting with an opponent he was supposed to let win, but Jack didn't want to disappoint his son, so he won the fight and said that it was for Matt.
Outside, Matt waited for his father, who walked out in an ally and was beaten by a gang after he won the fight he was supposed to lose.
With his hearing sense, Matt heard his father go through beating after beating and a big one showed up and gave Jack a punch, which lead to his death. Matt ran and saw the body of his father down on the ground and broke down.
From that moment on, he vowed vengeance against the man who killed his father, as well as promising that he will serve justice, believing that no one else would.
Years later, Matt grew up and became a lawyer. He was assigned to prosecute a man by the name of Quesada who was accused of raping an innocent woman.
When Quesada was telling his viewpoint of the story, Matt could already tell that he was indeed perjuring due to hearing his heart. However, he was considered innocent and got away scot-free.
Upset about Quesada, Matt decided to go out in the night as Daredevil and find Quesada. He found him at a club and took down most of his men, which lead Quesada to run away in panic.
He chased Quesada down to the subway and strung his neck until he heard the sound of the train, causing his own power to be his weakness.
Quesada pointed a gun on him and said to go to hell, but Daredevil said that Quesada will beat him there. He caused Quesada to tripped and plummet at the train tracks with another that was gonna run over him.
Going home bruised, he listened to the message that his girlfriend sent him claiming that she is breaking up with him for not being there for her.
As he was about to sleep in his coffin he heard the sound of a woman getting shot by an unknown person.
The sound was so close to Matt as it's like it was coming from his apartment. He lied on his coffin and fell asleep. He had a vision of a nun visiting Matt at his hospital bed as a child.
One morning, he and his friend Foggy Nelson were at the coffee shop explaining about Daredevil. It was interrupted as Matt smelled some perfume coming this way and there he saw a beautiful woman entering the coffee shop. Matt made numerous attempts to find out her name.
He even play fought with her at the park where kids were witnessing. She had the upper hand and said her name: Elektra Natchios and she and Matt immediately hit it off.
She left as her limousine appeared and promised Matt that she will find him. Once she left, Matt realized that he was late for court as he felt the timer on his watch that it was past noon which he was supposed to be there by noon.
At the courthouse, Matt and Foggy were assigned to help a client name Dante Jackson who was accused of murdering a prostitute by the name Lisa Tazio. Matt came to the conclusion that he is innocent after checking with the sense of his heart.
Matt and Foggy went to Lisa Tazio's home and investigated on the shooting. Matt felt something written on her wooden table which was spelled M, O, M, and the numbers where 6-8.
Foggy wrote it down on his paper and jumped to the conclusion that her mother killed because he just wanted to get out of here.
At the courthouse, Matt struggles to claim that his client is innocent, as the prosecutor: Officer Robert McKensie proves he is guilty.
Matt stumbled to a conflict that he knew McKensie was telling the truth as well. Then, both Matt and Foggy witnessed reporter Ben Urich sitting at the back of the courthouse wondering what he was doing here.
Later that night, Matt bumped into Elektra and took her to the roof as the rain came and Matt could see her through the rain, saying that she was beautiful. The two shared a kiss until Matt heard someone getting mugged far away from where they are.
This led him to leave Elektra behind confused as Matt went on as Daredevil to stop the thug. The thug witnessed Daredevil from a huge shadow behind him and ran away.
Daredevil then chased the thug to an apartment room and beat him down. He then saw a kid who witnessed the whole thing in front of him and was scared to death. Daredevil try to explained to the kid that he is not the bad guy. He then repeated himself saying it on the roof.
The next morning, he went to church where the persist said that they open on Sunday, but Matt said that he liked it when it was silent and demonstrated when he hears a noise coming from outside. The persist claims that he likes the loneliness.
He left the church and went into his office as one of the workers, Karen Page gave him an invention that was sent by Elektra, for Matt to join the party that her father Nikolas Natchios is hosting.
At first, Matt refuses to go after the night before and intends to end his relationship with Elektra.
He attended anyway after getting some encouragement from Foggy, and they met with Wilson Fisk who is a friend of Natchio's and Fisk's assistant Wesley Owen Welch.
Matt senses Elektra on a balcony and approached her and apologized for leaving the other night.
They went downstairs and danced until Elektra spotted her father walking away. They followed him outside as Natchios went inside his limousine. Elektra went inside despite her father telling her not to go, leaving Matt behind confused and concerned.
As suspicious as he is, Matt went out as Daredevil and followed Natchios' limousine. In the middle of the road, Bullseye appeared and killed the driver. Daredevil appeared and had a small fight.
He discovered that Bullseye has one of his weapons and used it on Natchios to kill him which in turn frames Daredevil.
He went home angered that he failed to keep the promise he made to his father. The next morning, he attended Natchios' funeral to comfort Elektra, but Elektra wanted revenge.
Matt tries to explain that it will not make the pain go away and offers her to stay with him, but she refuses and went into her limousine leaving Matt depressed.
As he was heading to take a cab, Urich came and insist on helping him with the Lisa Tazio case for his Kingpin story and told him that his client Dante Jackson is innocent.
He also told him that he has a cousin who runs a mersadise and sold his 500 SL to Officer McKenzie, which proves that McKenzie was lying.
The same night, Matt interrogated McKenzie, by driving his mersadise to get him to talk.
Matt discovered that McKenzie made a deal with the pacemaker, but McKenzie informs him that he works for the Kingpin and if he comes across him he is going to kill everyone he cares about.
Taking this to heart, Matt returned home and put his Daredevil suit on to track down Bullseye. 
He was unfortunately attacked by Elektra, whom she believes Daredevil killed her father, but Daredevil tried to explain that he was framed by Bullseye, but she doesn't believe him.
She stabbed him with one of her sais and unmasked him realizing that it was Matt, and apologized. She was confronted by Bullseye went on a duel, but she couldn't match Bullseye agility and so Bullseye killed her with one of her sais.
Enraged for losing the woman he loves, Daredevil went to church incredibly wounded and was unmasked by the priest, as it was revealed to him as Matt. Bullseye stepped in and demanded a duel with Daredevil as the priest left in Daredevil's wishes.
After putting his mask back on, Daredevil went on a duel with Bullseye. As they were fighting Bullseye discovered his weakness which is loud noises. Bullseye also revealed that Fisk is the Kingpin and was hired to kill both Natchios and Elektra, but would do Daredevil for free.
As Bullseye was about to stab him, Daredevil hear the sound of sniper wield by an officer standing on a rooftop across from them. Daredevil used it as he advantage for the sniper to shot at Bullseye's hands and threw him out of a window landing on a police car.
Daredevil left the church and went into Fisk's office to confront him, but due to Fisk's weight and strength, he was no match for him. Fisk unmasked him and was surprised to see that his enemy is blind Matt Murdock.
With that, Matt outsmarted Fisk by breaking the glass that was contained with water, so he is able to see Fisk, just like how he saw Elektra in the rain. Matt was about to use Fisk's cane against him, but place it in front of him as Matt said that he is not the bad guy.
They heard police sirens, and Fisk said that they are coming for Matt, but Matt claims that word is out on the Kingpin after Foggy discovered that M.O.M. and 6-8 it spelled upside down as it was written 8-9 and W.O.W. which it initials Wesley Owen Welch as the murderer and 8-9 is the date of the murder of Lisa Tazio was August 9 and tells Urich on the phone who passed on to Detective Nick Manolis which he interrogated Welch.
Fisk tells Matt that he will be coming for him when he gets out and Matt said that he will be waiting and left.
The next morning, Matt and Foggy congratulate Dante for his release and went into the coffee reading the paper of Fisk's reveal as the Kingpin.
Later on, Matt stopped by at the church until Urich came as he thanked him for his help, but Urich told him he is writing another story in that he knows that he is Daredevil after seeing the weapon that was used on Natchios and with Matt having something similar to his cane at Natchios' party, but later decided not published after the strong friendship he and Matt built and accepted him as Daredevil.
=== Deadpool and Wolverine ===
Years later Matt and the other heroes were thrown into the void by Paradox, and he was mentioned by Elektra confirmed that Matt was killed by Cassandra Nova, ruler of the void.
==Personality==
Toward his enemies as Daredevil, Murdock is brutal, unrelenting and even cruel. He openly shows no mercy however as Matt he was capable of giving them a chance to go to jail on their own terms or at least the city's.
Matt isn't completely immoral and was never seen actually seen killing an opponent but the closest he came was allowing Jose Quesada to be run over by a train while taunting him almost sadistically. However, his mercilessness can make him feared by the people he encounters, such as a little boy who saw him beat a low-down thug to a pulp.
He shows absolutely no concern towards the well being of opponents which was probably brought on by his own father being killed without compassion, he threw Bullseye out of the church window and caused him to land on a nearby police car albeit he did survive but was horribly incapacitated.
Murdock can be something of a hypocrite at times, as such when he claimed towards his priest (in the theatrical version) that what he was doing was in the name of justice it was in reality a personal vendetta.
Matt does seem to hold justice in high regard but despite his, he himself has committed breaking and entering and manslaughter.
Murdock's traumatic past makes it difficult to trust people, coming off as emotionally closed and distant which was probably brought on by his "daddy issues", seeing Jack Murdock mugging a person which causes him to run away which causes the loss of his sight.
After this, Murdock was asked to dock a fight however he refused for the good of his son and then was beaten to death by Wilson Fisk which made him feel tremendous guilt.
Murdock has difficulty maintaining a relationship which was shown when his girlfriend, Heather broke up with him after three months, the longest-standing relationship he has had with a woman was with Elektra Natchios but tragically she was killed by Bullseye.
Matt does seem to have a sense of humor, such as while choking Quesada he asks "how you doing!" And when he was helplessly laid across the train asks, mockingly says "that light at the end of the tunnel, that's not heaven. That's the C-Train!"
A difference between Murdock and his partner, Foggy Nelson was more concerned about getting money and earning clients than Matt was about declaring people's innocence, proving despite him being a superhero he was a lawyer inside and out.
==Powers and Abilities==
===Powers===
*Superhuman Physiology: Due to being exposed to radioactive chemicals, Daredevil possesses superhuman attributes; such as superhuman dexterity, equilibrium, flexibility, senses and echolocation.
**Superhuman Dexterity: Daredevil's dexterity is far more greatly developed than normal humans and most other mutants; he is capable of wielding dual nunchaku-like weapons simultaneously in both of his hands.
**Superhuman Equilibrium: Daredevil's equilibrium is far more greatly developed than normal humans and most other superhumans; he is able to balance himself perfectly on any object; no matter how small or narrow it is.
**Superhuman Flexibility: Daredevil is far more flexible than normal humans and most other superhumans.
**Superhuman Senses: Daredevil's senses are far more greatly developed than normal humans and most other superhumans; he can hear and pick up even the faintest of sounds and smells from several miles away. He can read a book by touching the ink on the page.
***Lie Detection: Due to Daredevil's superhuman hearing; he can sense if someone is lying; by listening to his/her heartbeat.
**Echolocation: Daredevil is able to locate objects or other individuals; by using reflected sound or sound waves. He can see a clear image of his surroundings or other individuals. Daredevil's echolocation is also superior to the radar senses of a bats.
===Abilities===
*Master Acrobat: Daredevil is highly skilled in all kinds of acrobatics and gymnastics, as he is able to perform acrobatic and gymnastic moves; such as somersaults, flips, etc., which allows him to dodge or counter almost any attack.
*Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Daredevil is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, as he is able to go head-on against terrific combatants; such as Elektra, Bullseye and Kingpin respectively. His fighting style includes Karate, Wing Chun Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Capoeira, Wushu, Hapkido, Kali, Krav Maga, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do, Boxing, Judo and Wrestling.
*Master Stick-Fighter: Daredevil is a highly skilled stick-fighter; as he utilizes a bo-staff in combat.
*Master Lawyer: Matt is a highly skilled lawyer; as he runs his own law firm.
*Expert Driver: Matt is a highly skilled driver; despite the fact that he is blind. He is capable of driving most other vehicles; such as cars.
===Weaknesses===
*Blindness: Due to the fact that Daredevil was (permanently) blinded in a chemical accident when he was a child; he can't see hid enemies, as a result; he relies on his four remaining senses that have been amplified to superhuman levels, as well as his echolocation.
*Intense Noise: Daredevil's echolocation doesn't work very well; if he is exposed to extremely loud noise.
*Superhuman Hearing: Due to the fact that Daredevil's sense of hearing has been amplified to superhuman levels; he is extremely sensitive to loud noise; as he becomes temporarily incapacitated when exposed to such loud noise.
==Equipment==
*Daredevil suit: Matt wears a red leather suit as his superhero alter-ego, Daredevil; to hide his identity from his enemies, when he goes out fighting crime.
*Billy club: Matt utilizes dual nunchaku-like weapons; when he operates as Daredevil. The weapon's functions are a multi-purpose cane with different modes; such as two short sticks, a bo-staff or grappling hook.
==Trivia==
*Although Ben Affleck is a fan of the character, acting him out was such an unpleasant experience that, in November 2006, Affleck stated that he'd never reprise the role, having felt "by playing a superhero in "Daredevil", I've inoculated myself from ever playing another superhero. Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me and something I wouldn't want to do again soon." It is believed that the Daredevil costume was very uncomfortable to wear. However, in 2013 Affleck accepted an agreement to play Batman starting with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
*Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Edward Norton, Guy Pearce, Matthew Davis, Patrick Wilson, and Colin Farrell were all considered for the role before Ben Affleck was cast.
*Ben Affleck had to wear heavy-duty contact lenses during filming, which obscured most of his vision.
*This version of Daredevil is confirmed to be similar to Frank Miller's take on the character due to director Mark Steven Johnson to be a fan of that version.
*Ben Affleck originally was in the running to play Bullseye, but he eventually was slated as the title role instead.
*As a fan of the character, Ben Affleck made a point of reading every single comic book that featured Daredevil as preparation for his role.
*Ben Affleck met his future, but later ex-wife Jennifer Garner on the set of this film.
*After negative critical and audience reactions, and Ben Affleck's refusal to play the character a second time, numerous producers and screenwriters were attached to a potential Daredevil reboot. An initial deadline of October 10, 2012, was set that if the movie didn't start filming before that date, the rights would go back to Marvel Studios. David Slade was originally attached to direct, before dropping out over a scheduling conflict in August 2012. Joe Carnahan pitched a sizzle reel to 20th Century Fox executives, depicting the character in a hard-boiled, 1970s-set thriller in Manhattan. But the studio chose to let the live-action film rights lapse, and go back to Marvel. Marvel chose to do Daredevil (2015) as a live-action television series for Netflix, with the character fitting within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
*According to Ben Affleck, Daredevil was his favorite comic book hero.
*Colin Farrell was considered for the part of Daredevil until Ben Affleck signed on the dotted line. Ironically enough, Colin Farrell eventually established the part of Bullseye which Ben Affleck was considered for.
*Ben Affleck was cast as Daredevil because Kevin Smith (appearing here as Kirby the lab tech) suggested him to Writer and Director Mark Steven Johnson. Smith, who directed Affleck in four films from the "View Askewniverse" series, and would later reunite in Jersey Girl (2004), also wrote at least one of the comic books, on which this movie is based.
*In the film, Matt runs into an industrial area where a forklift accidentally damages a container filled with toxic waste that falls on his face. In the comics, Matt saves an elderly blind man from being run over by a truck, but a radioactive isotope fell out of the truck and struck Matt in the face.
*The love scene between Matt and Elektra after the rainstorm and the confession booth scenes were added at the last minute, after director Mark Steven Johnson had re-cut the film to ensure a PG-13 rating, calling them coverage shots of his original intentions.
*At the end of the final confrontation with the Kingpin, Daredevil says, "Justice is served". This is the catchphrase of another Marvel comic character, the enigmatic vigilante Scourge, who would use the same line after murdering Marvel villains.
*Ben Affleck filmed a cameo reprising his Daredevil role as Matt Murdock in Eletrka (2005), but was cut from the final film.
*While Ben Affleck's performance as Matt Murdock wasn't well-received upon the film's initial release, he was given a somewhat better word of mouth for how he was portrayed in the movie's Director's Cut released a year later, as that version of the film has him portrayed as a more tragic and sympathetic character, especially with the scene where he leaves Elektra in the rain to stop a crime, as opposed to the original version where he decided to stay and make love to her, which completely contradicts the promise he has made to fight against injustice after his father was killed.
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