PremiumWhen Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man costume became a problem for Ben Affleck’s Daredevil and the studio came up with a shelved wild idea - Find out
Spider-Man’s frenzy in 2002 had Ben Affleck starrer Daredevil’s makers having sleepless nights.
Last Updated: 05.10 PM, May 14, 2024
The superhero culture and the realms have now found umbrellas with the MCU and DCU labels which cover most of them. There was a time when several studios were making their versions of adaptations of the comics, and there was a very interesting mix of movies coming out from different directions. Spider-Man, who was brought to the world of live-action with the Tobey Maguire version that released back in 2002.
While Sony was in charge of this, there was also the 20th Fox Century who were actively getting into making films about the Marvel comic characters. One character they were shaping parallel to Sam Raimi shaping the web-slinging superhero was Daredevil. Ben Affleck was playing the part. But did you know how much chaos that caused between the studios and the makers of Daredevil took a now-canned extreme decision back in the day?
While Spider-Man, which streams on Sony LIV now in India, was released back in 2002, Daredevil was then being shot to meet its planned 2003 release. The nature of both the superheroes is somewhat similar where they fight crime on the street level. However, Peter Parker was on the lighter side of things and Matt Murdock was dark because he fought in the underbelly of the crime world. Another problem for the makers of Daredevil happened to be the costume. While both the superheroes sport red and there will be comparisons, the makers at Fox decided to take an extreme step.
The Spider-Man and Daredevil Costumes Chaos
As per Fandom Wire, when Daredevil was been made, the studio apparently wanted the whole concept to be changed. They even thought of removing the horns that make the Matt Murdock costume look edgy. But if you thought this was wild, wait till you get to know that the makers even thought of not giving him any costume at all. There was a risk that the costume Ben Affleck’s Daredevil would wear in the movie would get compared to that of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, and the latter was already loved by the fans. There was also a plan according to which Daredevil would fight in his sweatshirt and jeans as a vigilante thug.
Yes, you read that right. Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man was such a competition for the makers of Daredevil that the makers went to this extreme. However, the plan was scrapped, and eventually, Ben Affleck ended up wearing a dark red suit made out of leather and also retained the horns that are Daredevil’s USP.
Spider-Man’s Glory
Fox was not wrong when they tried to avoid the comparisons with Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man because Sam Raimi's take on the web-slinging superhero was a monstrous hit. The movie in 2002 managed to do $821 Million worldwide business according to Box Office Mojo. A number that not many movies even manage to touch with all the hike in the rates of tickets. The film streams in India on Sony LIV and can be accessed with your OTTplay Premium subscription.
Stay tuned to OTTplay for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.