Summary

• Elektra reportedly didn't feature Ben Affleck's Daredevil due to studio concerns over his relationship with Jennifer Garner having an impact on the movie.
• The decision to omit Affleck may have helped the actor given the surrounding circumstances of rushed production and poor writing that doomed Elektra.
• Garner's Elektra portrayal was largely well-received, but did not save the movie from a negative response.

Despite being a pre-live-action Daredevil adaptations. Even worse, however, was the response to the spin-off movie Elektra, starring Jennifer Garner in the titular role. Despite the characters being inexorably tied to one another, however, Daredevil was conspicuously absent from Elektra.

Elektra was a largely lambasted attempt by Fox to continue the Daredevil story. Despite Elektra's apparent death during the events of Daredevil, Elektra began with her resurrection by Stick. Stick is another character tied closely to the Daredevil mythos, having trained both Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios, and played a central role in Daredevil's lauded stint in the Charlie Cox's Daredevil Netflix show. His presence and Garner's star power made the absence of Affleck's Daredevil more noticeable. He was initially supposed to appear in a cameo role, but the scene was cut for an unusual reason.

Why Elektra Didn't Include Ben Affleck's Daredevil

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner went public with their relationship in 2004, following the release of Daredevil in 2003, and Garner also pushed for Affleck to Elektra. The studio reportedly resolved to omit Ben Affleck entirely out of fear that their relationship would negatively impact the movie.

This is not without precedent, as it was believed that Affleck's public relationship with Jennifer Lopez just a couple of years prior negatively impacted Gigli and Jersey Girl, in which they both starred. Both movies came out during their very public romance and breakup, which garnered a significant amount of negative press. As such, the decision to avoid a prospective repeat of this seemingly was a not inconsiderable influence for Elektra's cameo cut, even if it didn't prevent the movie from flopping in cinemas.

Why Ben Affleck's Daredevil Being Absent From Elektra May Have Been A Good Thing

Avoiding a press circuit that may focus on the public life of its main stars may have been a wise business decision on the face of it, but a rushed production and poor writing were enough to spell doom for Elektra regardless. Garner's performance was seen to be a highlight that could not avoid the negative impact of these surrounding circumstances. Having Ben Affleck's Daredevil appear would have been just as ineffectual in staving off this disaster, and would have only cemented the largely negative response to Affleck's short-lived tenure as the Man Without Fear.

Jennifer Garner's respected portrayal of Elektra is set to be vindicated by a return as the character in Deadpool & Wolverine according to the US Copyright filing for the movie.

Affleck has expressed regret for Daredevil, which scored middling-to-poor reviews, despite his performance being among the highlights. This spurred him to become the DCEU's Batman, which Affleck had hoped would rectify his connection to the superhero genre. This is the role with which he is more commonly associated than Matt Murdock, given that Affleck has appeared as the Caped Crusader five times. Affleck avoiding Elektra, therefore, was conducive to him distancing himself from the role of Daredevil.