‘Daredevil’ Director Explains Why the Sequel Was Never Made
The director of the 2003 Daredevil movie has shared some of the original plans for a sequel to the film that never made it to the big screen. Mark Steven Johnson recently talked to Yahoo! Entertainment about the film for its 20th anniversary. Daredevil starred Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios.
Unlike Bryan Singer’s 2000 X-Men film or Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man film, a sequel to Daredevil was never made. Instead, an Elektra spin-off film starring Garner was released in 2005. According to Johnson, the results of the spin-off would determine if there would be a Daredevil sequel. “I think the plan was that they would make an Elektra movie and then in success do another Daredevil,” said Johnson. “I didn’t work on the Elektra movie at all, but that one didn’t work out, and then everything kind of went away, unfortunately.”
Johnson also talked about one of the storylines he was hoping to tell in a sequel. “I know I wanted to do more of Matt’s romance with Karen Page, played by Ellen Pompeo,” said Johnson. Pompeo’s version of Karen makes a brief appearance in the first film at the office where Matt and Foggy Nelson (Jon Favreau) practice law. Karen’s romantic interest in Matt is hinted at when she mentions that Matt’s invitation to a ball lets him bring another person with him. Karen Page would later have a more significant role in the Netflix television series, where she was played by Deborah Ann Woll. Karen and Matt (Charlie Cox) even started dating at the beginning of the show’s second season.
Although a Daredevil sequel was never made, many people involved in the film would continue to work in the superhero genre. Johnson later directed the 2007 Marvel film Ghost Rider, which starred Nicolas Cage. Affleck would later suit up as Batman in the DC Extended Universe, starting with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. Affleck will return as Batman in this year’s DCEU film The Flash. Colin Farrell, who played Bullseye in Daredevil, went on to play the Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot in director Matt Reeves’ film The Batman. Farrell will also play the character in a series for HBO Max.
Michael Clarke Duncan, who played the Kingpin/Wilson Fisk, later reprised the role in MTV’s Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, which starred Neil Patrick Harris. Favreau went on to direct the first Iron Man film in 2008, which kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also directed the 2010 sequel Iron Man 2. Favreau also plays the character Happy Hogan in the MCU. Although a Daredevil sequel was never made, the character of Matt Murdock returned to the big screen in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, with Cox reprising the role from the Netflix series.
The 2003 Daredevil film is currently available to stream on HBO Max. A trailer for the film can be watched below:
