Ben Affleck Opens Up About Daredevil, Punisher, and What the MCU Got Absolutely Right

Ben Affleck isn’t exactly new to the world of superheroes. Before he donned the cape and cowl as Batman, he was Daredevil back in 2003, back when superhero movies were still trying to figure out exactly what they could be.

And now, in a strange full-circle moment, he’s starring opposite Jon Bernthal, the MCU’s official Punisher in The Accountant 2. Naturally, someone had to ask them about it.

Jake Hamilton sat down with the duo and brought up Marvel, and Affleck took the opportunity to reflect on the shift from pre-MCU chaos to the streamlined, mega-machine Marvel has become under Kevin Feige’s leadership, and he actually made a solid point about why the MCU became such a juggernaut.

“Well, his Punisher is good. Daredevil was an interesting story. It was before Kevin Feige had stepped into the role of running Marvel. He imposed a kind of clarity of tone across those movies that sort of figured out the trickiest thing, which is, 'How do you balance a movie where you got people wearing pajamas and have superpowers, and how seriously you take it, and how much humor is in it, and how much you wink at the audience, and what does the action have to look like?'

“It coincided with visual effects getting to a place where it could look really convincing. It made the way for great actors like him to step in and really get it done. There's a new Daredevil, I haven't seen it yet, but I certainly love the character, I wish him the best, but I wouldn't tangle with his Punisher.”

Affleck’s not talking about shared universes or crossovers or billion-dollar box office. He’s talking about the vibe. Because before the MCU nailed that, superhero movies were all over the place. One might be dark and brooding (The Punisher), the next a neon soap opera (Daredevil), and none of them felt like they could actually exist in the same world.

That’s why a Daredevil vs. Punisher team-up in 2004 would’ve felt like a weird but awesome fever dream. As Affleck implies, it wasn’t about licensing, it was about tone. And that’s exactly what Feige managed to standardize.

Of course, that consistency has its trade-offs. A lot of fans have noted that many MCU projects are starting to blend together, with some movies feeling like they’re just checking boxes rather than doing anything fresh. Even within the franchise, there are characters who feel like they exist in a different cinematic flavor entirely.

Regardless, it’s kind of a bummer that Affleck’s superhero era didn’t pan out the way he probably hoped. Listening to him talk about the genre, it’s clear the guy gets it. He was just involved in it during a time when the genre was young and people were still trying to figure out what it could and should be.