We Finally Know What The Cancelled Daredevil Game Looks Like
Fans of the Marvel superhero Daredevil have yet to see the Man Without Fear starring in his own video game. But now, thanks to a video leak from PtoPOnline on YouTube, they can see what might have been.
The cancelled Daredevil: The Man Without Fear was meant to be released across multiple platforms in 2003, but thanks to a number of factors — including discourse between indie studio 5000ft and the owners of the character, as well as reported drug abuse within the studio itself — the project was ultimately thrown out. The game would have been released alongside the 2003 Daredevil film, and both Sony and Marvel could see the possibilities of a lucrative venture with the game's success.
PtoPOnline's video features footage from the lost game, as well as a look at unfinished levels. The game takes place in Hell's Kitchen, which has fallen into chaos with criminals and thugs roaming the streets. The mechanics include using Daredevil's billy club to swing from skyscrapers, which feels like a callback to the PS2 Spider-Man games, although the physics of Daredevil make more sense than Spider-Man's web shooters clinging to nothing.
Daredevil can also grind along phone wires and along the edge of buildings. This mechanic was inspired by the Tony Hawk: Pro Skater series, which was a huge hit for Playstation, but Marvel was not impressed, considering this ability does not fall in line with the character. Another of Daredevil's abilities in the game is the "Shadow World" mode, which would have allowed the players to use the hero's super sensory powers to see through walls and detect hidden enemies, as well as their weaknesses.
While PtoPOnline does not delve into the game's story much in his video, he does provide audio clips from the game which gives an idea. In one of the clips, Daredevil interrogates a criminal to discover the whereabouts of his close friend, Foggy Nelson. The gangster confesses that the villain Hammerhead kidnapped Nelson, and also reveals a plot to bomb a commuter train.
The game would have featured other familiar Daredevil characters as well, including Kingpin, Elektra, and Bullseye. One of the scenes in the leaked footage shows a fight between Bullseye and Elektra in a boxing — an appropriate setting for fans of the Marvel hero who know that Jack Murdock, Daredevil's father, was a pro boxer.
Though this Daredevil game will never be made available for fans to play, it wouldn't be surprising if the Marvel superhero one day starred in his own game franchise. With the success Playstation has seen from Marvel's Spider-Man, Marvel's Avengers, and the recent release of Spider-Man: Miles Morales for PS5, it's not unthinkable that the company might expand the universe a little more to include the Man Without Fear.