Jon Bernthal To Appear As The Punisher Before Daredevil: Born Again?
Jon Bernthal may join his fellow Daredevil castmates, Charlie Cox and Vincent Donoffrio, in the upcoming Marvel series Echo.
The Punisher is officially blasting his way into the MCU. It was recently revealed that Jon Bernthal would be returning to the role of Frank Castle for Daredevil: Born Again. Now Comicbook.com reports that we may see Bernthal with the giant skull on his chest even sooner in the upcoming Marvel series Echo.
The site reasons that since Daredevil actors Charlie Cox and Vincent Donoffrio have roles in the upcoming Marvel series Echo, fellow Daredevil alum Jon Bernthal might join them. The theory is certainly plausible. All three characters are tied together through Donoffrio’s Kingpin. It’s also been reported that Cox’s Daredevil will be searching for an old friend during the events of Echo. Could that friend be The Punisher?
Daredevil: Born Again started filming very recently, and despite being scheduled for this year, Echo doesn’t have a set release date yet. It’s very possible the Punisher could show up for a brief role in Echo or a post-credit teaser. A Jon Bernthal cameo at the 11th hour wouldn’t be without precedent in the MCU.
For instance, Captain America: Civil War was originally written without Spider-Man and featured a larger role for Chadwick Boseman‘s Black Panther. Luckily Sony and Disney came to an agreement at the last minute, and Tom Holland was added to the movie. If Disney will restructure a tentpole blockbuster to add a new character, slipping Jon Bernthal into Echo should be no problem.
Since the inception of the Netflix Marvel shows, Disney has been cagey about whether they were part of the larger MCU or not. The first concrete answer came when Vincent Donoffrio’s Kingpin showed up in Hawkeye. Disney followed that up with Charlie Cox‘s cameo as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Cox later showed up in full the Daredevil costume on She-Hulk, further cementing the Netflix show’s canonicity.
The Jon Bernthal version of the Punisher will be the third major character from the Netflix Marvel Universe to appear in the MCU. Bernthal was introduced as the Punisher in the 2nd season of Netflix’s Daredevil. His version of the character was so popular that Netflix gave Jon Bernthal a Punisher spinoff that ran for two seasons.
The Walking Dead star wasn’t the first actor to portray Frank Castle in live-action, but he might be the most popular. Dolph Lundgren played the ultraviolent vigilante in a mostly forgotten straight-to VHS, 1989 cheese-fest The Punisher. Thomas Jane wore the infamous chest skull in 2005’s The Punisher and reprised the role in the unofficial 2012 fan film Dirty Laundry.
Ray Stevenson played Castle in 2008’s Punisher: War Zone, possibly the vigilante’s goriest outing to date. War Zone was one of only two movies, along with Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, ever released under the Marvel Knights banner. Interestingly Stevenson later went on to join the MCU as Thor’s friend Volstagg.
Jon Bernthal seems to be the only Punisher with any real staying power. Not only did he get two seasons of his own series, but fans were practically begging for Kevin Feige to introduce Bernthal’s version of the character into the MCU rather than cast a new actor.
Even if The Punisher doesn’t make an appearance in Echo, fans are excited just knowing that Jon Bernthal is returning to the role in any capacity. It’s about to be open season on bad guys in the MCU.
