Jon Bernthal Is Back As The Punisher In Upcoming Marvel Series
Jon Bernthal is coming back as The Punisher and is going to be making a move into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this upcoming series.
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With the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuing to expand, there are new characters coming to the franchise, but also previous versions from other iterations finding their way into this larger universe for the first time. One of those is going to be Jon Bernthal who played in The Punisher for years in the Netflix group of Marvel properties. He’s going to join the MCU soon and we are getting a sense of how he’ll start to fit in (so to speak). Geekosity has it that Bernthal is going to show up in the second season of Moon Knight to fight Marc Spector when that show finally hits Disney+.
According to Geekosity, the plans are for Jon Bernthal to square off against Moon Knight to start, but eventually the two will find themselves on the same side. That’s kind of par for the course considering how The Punisher operates, more violent and driven than many other superhero types. Bernthal has brought this kind of intensity already on the small screen as the character.
This is, of course, looking way ahead for Jon Bernthal and The Punisher considering Moon Knight hasn’t even put out its first season yet. But it appears the plan is to have these two characters face off at some point in the near future. Both operate in the anti-hero/ vigilante vein, taking violent ends to justify their means. It makes sense that we could see a clash between the two and it would make for some great television. Oscar Knight is set to play Spector/ Moon Knight and the first season will be an origin story for the character.
And apparently, this isn’t the only clash Jon Bernthal and The Punisher has coming when he makes his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Giant Freakin Robot had the exclusive that there were plans in the works to have Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and The Punisher clash at some point as well. That won’t be happening in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but some other future project. The plan sure seems to lean heavily into Bernthal in the character, pitting him against other heroes who don’t want to take the same, vengeful and violent approach.
Jon Bernthal joins the MCU after playing The Punisher on Netflix for that group of characters. He first appeared in the second season of Daredevil, at first coming at odds with Matt Murdock, but eventually joining forces. The streaming platform spun that off into a solo series which lasted for two seasons. The story of Bernthal as Frank Castle, coming to grips with his identity as The Punisher, willing to go to any end to enact his form of justice, was a solid show. And Bernthal was excellent as the character.
But Netflix decided to stop production on its Marvel-centered characters which included Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher. By the terms of the rights around the characters, Marvel had to wait two years from the time of the last production on a character to absorb them into the MCU. That timing sunsetted for Jon Bernthal back in April and now the stories can start ramping back up.
It’s an exciting time for the Marvel Cinematic Universe with these new additions. Jon Bernthal was perfect casting for The Punisher when he first appeared on Netflix and it was a good move to bring him aboard into the MCU for sure. The next couple of years will have the black shirt and skull on screen more than ever.
