Daredevil (2003)

[A beaker full of death]

^ Fair enough. My cartoon-watching days ended in the 70s, so I guess I really don't know the conscience of the young.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Also he was one of Marvel's less-known characters, while the X-men and especially Spider-Man (pretty much the only Marvel successes at that point) were fairly well-known from at least the cartoons and more geared toward a general audience.

Actually, X-Men were among the more obscure heroes in the general consciousness. Indeed, all Marvel heroes other than Spiderman, and MAYBE the Hulk (thanks to the tv series) were pretty obscure to the general public. Certainly Daredevil was well known to comic readers.

I can't speak for others, but the X-Men were widely known to me. There was the 90s cartoon, after all. Granted, I don't think they were as well-known as the Hulk, but I certainly think people knew who they were. At the very least, they knew who Wolverine was.

 

[Agenda]

Although we often overestimate how popular comic characters are, we also often underestimate it as well. At times during its run, the X-Men has outsold everything else on the market - many times more than Superman, Wonder Woman, and others. It's impossible for it to do that and not permeate the consciousness of the general public. By the time the movie came out, a lot of the people who were young when the comic was at its height were in their 30s and even 40s. I remember being surprised at the movie's success when it came out, but maybe it's not so surprising in hindsight.

 

[Thestral]

and there was the X-Men Evolution cartoon as well.

Yeah, as much as the 90s cartoon was great, I actually really like Evo as well.

 

[A beaker full of death]

I guess my take on cartoons is archaic. I was a comics fan first, anyway, and cartoons in the 60s and 70s were always just ancillary, sort of a reader's digest version of the real thing -- the comic. Of course, they were often aimed at a much younger crowd, too.

 

[Brikar99]

The X-Men 90s cartoon was my first experience with the X-Men, and it's what intrigued me enough to seek out the comics. Likewise, I'd never read a Daredevil comic before the movie.