Jon Bernthal To Be A Big Part Of Marvel’s Future?
Should Marvel be making Jon Bernthal's Punisher a major part of their future plans?
This article is more than 2 years old
Coming hot off the rumor that Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin would be making the leap over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a report involving another hugely popular Marvel/Netflix star. And no, it’s not Charlie Cox or Krysten Ritter (although we really should not be counting anyone out at this point, except for maybe Luke Cage and Iron Fist). According to WeGotThisCovered, Marvel wants The Punisher star Jon Bernthal to become a big part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This is still just a rumor at this point, but it does make some sense. Especially if Marvel is indeed bringing people such as Charlie Cox’s Daredevil into the franchise’s overarching story. Still, because this is merely hearsay, it would be wise to take this with a grain of salt.
It is not clear when, where, or how Jon Bernthal will supposedly return as Frank Castle/The Punisher, but if he does end up reprising his role, then it will likely be part of that rumored Thunderbolts project. That’s really the approach that would make the most sense narratively. That way, the showrunners would not have to sacrifice that very necessary darkness that helps characterize Castle’s evolution as a person. Well, that is only if Kevin Feige reconsiders his decision to make Deadpool 3 the only R-Rated Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. The Punisher is not the only hero whose story would be affected by that, by the way. Blade would also suffer.
Jon Bernthal debuted as The Punisher in the second season of the popular Marvel/Netflix series Daredevil back in March 2016, serving as an important part of Matt Murdock’s journey before scoring two seasons of his own show, aptly titled The Punisher. Since then, Bernthal has become the definitive version of the character, earning the admiration and respect of Marvel fans the world over.
But when Marvel cancelled its Netflix shows back at the end of 2018, just months after the third season of Daredevil hit the streamer, Jon Bernthal’s once-bright future as Punisher was suddenly-and unceremoniously-thrown into uncertainty. Until now, we have not really heard too much about whether or not we would ever see his take on Frank Castle again. Hopefully, there ends up being some truth to this new rumor.
The initial report did not reveal much beyond what we’ve already told you, but it did mention that Jon Bernthal would likely be showing up-or even starring in-multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. Again, we do not yet know what those projects will be, or even if they will happen, but it does seem like discussions have been happening. Or maybe they have already happened and final decisions are being made/mulled over? We are just speculating at this point, and that can only take us so far. We will have to wait and see if the trades or the studio gives us something more concrete.
What do you think, though? Should Jon Bernthal return as Punisher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Or should Kevin Feige go ahead and cast someone else, just to avoid potential confusion?
