Charlie Cox’s Daredevil TV series is undoubtedly better than Ben Affleck’s Daredevil movie, but is that comparison even valid?
Though it has always been a one-sided debate between the movie Daredevil (2003) and the TV series, Daredevil (2015 – 2018), it must be noted that the TV series has always had an upper hand because of its timing and the platform it released. The movie probably did as well as a vigilante movie can do back in 2003. The conversation is again raging as rumours of Affleck’s Daredevil cameo in Multiverse of Madness surface. Cox marked his official MCU appearance in No Way Home.
Both, the movie and the TV series had an amazing cast
Whenever there is a debate between the Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck and the Daredevil TV series starring Charlie Cox, the latter has always been victorious. We can compare any parameter between the two, Cox is the true Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
Some people don’t even know if a movie called Daredevil exists, and that too has a similar plotline to the TV series. Comparing the cast of the two, both of them had a remarkable cast, whether it was about the protagonist or antagonist or even the vigilante’s love interest.
Whether it is Charlie Cox or Ben Affleck, both are remarkable actors when it comes to playing a vigilante under the mask. Talking about Kingpin’s role, the late Michael Clarke Duncan did all the justice to the role like Vincent D’Onofrio. Also, Murdock’s love interest, Elecktra was played by remarkable actresses both the times, Jennifer Garner in 2003 and Elodie Yung in the TV series.
What made the TV series better?
Now, the question arises, what makes the TV series get all the fame, while the movie is always criticised. But, there is a bigger question to this entire scenario, is it even valid to compare a 1 hour 43 minutes movie that came out in 2003 with a three-season TV series that made its debut in 2015.
There are undoubtedly a lot of improvements from 2003 to 2015 in the role of Daredevil, but then we must understand the 12 years gap that we are talking about. There were a lot of advancements, especially in terms of CGI, that grew exponentially in 12 years.
The effect of CGI can be felt the most when we compare the fight scenes of the movie and the TV show. The TV series has such an excellent hold of the CGI that there are several action scenes, showing each drop of blood with utmost clarity and how a hand to hand fight flows.
Comparing a movie with a TV series, are you sure?
Secondly, what made a huge difference was the character building of the role. When Cox started playing the role the character got a firm introduction and the audience got a lot of time to know the background of Matt Murdock.
The series started with Murdock being a kid, introduced his father, then his so-called mentor, Stick and went on from there. Every character and moment was well introduced in each episode and the audience can live every moment.
No doubt, the movie had the same plot and went on the same path, but then 1 hour 43 minutes of the a and 3 seasons of a TV series is a lot of difference, right? Unlike the TV series, the movie did not have time to spend on each critical factor.
Lastly, there is one more factor that contributed to the widespread popularity of Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and that was the platform it was released on. Netflix served as a proper place for such a brutal show with a dark theme. The platform took several practical techniques in filming which eventually made the comic take on the show more evident.
Loopholes in Ben Affleck’s Daredevil
We can agree on the fact that the Daredevil movie had several loopholes. For example, Ben Affleck’s Murdock lost most of the cases and his victories were more aligned with his luck, while Cox played a perfect blind lawyer and did exceptionally well in the court with his best friend, Foggy Nelson.
Another loophole that the movie had was, Affleck’s Daredevil kept people’s lives in danger, in the beginning of the movie itself the vigilante was indirectly responsible for a man’s killing. Cox’s Daredevil took his principle of “no killing” way too seriously and at times was shown struggling because of the same.
It’s probably time for season 4
Anyway, the movie era for Daredevil is gone. So, talking about the TV series, there are chances that we get to Daredevil season 4 sooner than we expect. With the Marvel TV series that were once on Netflix, going back to Disney there are chances Disney begins with the show sequels.
After three successful seasons of Daredevil, Cox has made his debut in the MCU with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Not only is the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen here, but the main villain of the show, Vincent’s Kingpin made his debut too, with Hawkeye. So, maybe it’s about time, we might get Daredevil season 4 after a long wait.
