Jon Bernthal Punisher Is Going To Have A Major Role In Upcoming Marvel Series
Vincent D'Onofrio revealed that Jon Bernthal's Punisher will be a "major part" of Daredevil: Born Again.
Since it was confirmed just a little under one month ago that Jon Bernthal would be returning to the MCU as Frank Castle aka the Punisher in Disney+’s reboot series Daredevil: Born Again, fans have been wondering how much or how little of the character audiences will see woven into the storyline. Well, Vincent D’Onofrio delivered some good news in a recent interview with Newsweek during which he shared information that Bernthal’s Punisher would play “a major part of the show.”
Sharing more about Disney+’s reimagining of the series, D’Onofrio, who plays the show’s main antagonist Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin, shared that while cameras have just begun rolling on the first season, he can already tell that this time things will be “very different than the Netflix show,” adding that there are a lot of plot points “that people are not going to expect.”
Of course, the element of surprise is great, and fans will be thrilled to see how Jon Bernthal’s Punisher fits in with this new story, but D’Onofrio also added that while the writers are putting their own twist on things, it will also live up to the “original” lore. The Full Metal Jacket star added that with stoke so high for the first season, fans won’t believe what they’re seeing in the follow-up season, referring to it as “gigantic.”
The official announcement surrounding Jon Bernthal’s return to the role of Frank Castle came around the revelation that his Showtime series, American Gigolo, a small-screen remake of the 1980 Richard Gere-led film, would be canceled and wiped from the platform completely. Nothing helps soften the blow of losing one big gig like the way returning to a fan-favorite antihero does.
Daredevil: Born Again will act as a reunion between Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil as the former was first seen on Season 2 of Netflix’s Daredevil before going on to star in two seasons of his own series.
While Daredevil: Born Again marks Jon Bernthal’s official return to the character, there is a chance that we could see the Punisher’s face in another MCU project ahead of the 2024 release of Born Again. There is a possibility that Bernthal will join his co-stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio in Marvel’s upcoming series Echo.
As fans of Disney+’s Hawkeye will know, D’Onofrio’s Kingpin returned to the story in the show’s first season and is expected to make an appearance in the spinoff, making it possible that the Punisher could be making a cameo.
As for Jon Bernthal’s original reign as the Punisher, the two-season-running show was part of Netflix’s initial go at creating series-versions of Marvel stories. The plot followed Bernthal’s ex-marine, Frank Castle, on a vengeful quest to uncover the secrets behind why his family was killed and by whom. Like other similar Netflix titles, including Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones, the series would be scrapped after just a short run.
While we may not (at this moment) see Krysten Ritter or Mike Colter step back into their roles as Jessica Jones or Luke Cage, respectively, anything’s possible now that the fans have been heard and Daredevil: Born Again is on its way to Disney+. Jon Bernthal’s return as the Punisher makes anything possible and also promises to add a more violent and gritty storyline to Cox’s less spiteful hero. As of right now, Born Again is expected to hit the streamer in 2024.
