Jon Bernthal Is Back As The Punisher

The character was an instant hit with fans when he was introduced in Daredevil Season 2, proving so popular he was given his own spinoff series.

The Punisher ran for two seasons before Marvel decided to pull the plug on its Netflix endeavors in favor of producing content for Disney’s own streaming service. When that happened, it looked like the Jon Bernthal iteration of The Punisher was dead and buried.

Now it looks like the fan-favorite anti-hero has risen from the ashes to once again spank the underworld scum of New York City with a lead paddle.

Jon Bernthal, for one, couldn’t be happier about The Punisher’s return. “He exists very strongly inside me and I care about that character deeply.” Bernthal said regarding The Punisher.

The 47-year-old actor went on to say that it was “essential” that if he and Marvel were to bring the character back, “we do it right, and we have real sacred integrity to the source material and what is at the core of Frank.”

Jon Bernthal also vowed to do his “absolute best” to make sure that the Punisher gets done the right way. Given that Bernthal’s Frank Castle has been the most successful live-action portrayal of the character by far, it’s safe to say that the man knows what he’s talking about.

Prior to Jon Bernthal’s portrayal of the character, three other actors donned the Punisher’s signature skull logo with results ranging from okay to ’80s action movie cheese.

In 1989, a low-budget Punisher film starring Dolph Lundgren was released straight-to-video. While Lundgren gave a fair, if limited, performance as Frank Castle, the rest of the film—save for Louis Gossett Jr.—was a generic action grind.

Thomas Jane faired better in The Punisher, but while the 2004 movie was better than the 1989 film, it shared a name, and it suffered from a lack of cannon fodder for Jane to mow down. In short, the Punisher didn’t really Punish enough people. A sequel/reboot, starring the late Ray Stevenson, over-corrected for this, dialing up the violence and gore to Troma levels.

Punisher: Warzone (2008) is an over-the-top guilty pleasure that sadly went a little too far for most audiences. Thankfully, Jon Bernthal was there to baby-bear it and give fans a Punisher that was “just right.”

According to Bernthal, the reason the character of The Punisher has “resonated as deeply and strongly as he has” with “fans and first responders and people in the military” is because there’s “a little bit of Frank Castle in everybody.

Given what a terrifying prospect that is, perhaps Bernthal doesn’t understand the character quite as much as we thought.

First responders—firefighters, police, etc.—and those in the military should absolutely not be emulating a psychopath whose only purpose is to murder anyone he deems a bad guy based on his own warped standards.

A sentiment the character’s creator, Gerry Conway, agrees with. Conway once called the fact that the Punisher’s skull is regularly used by police and military “enormously dispiriting.”

Conway also said that the symbol stood for a very “disaffected and antisocial mindset” and that anyone using it to express unity with other like-minded people was “bad people.”

Hopefully, when Jon Bernthal’s Punisher returns in Daredevil: Born Again, the MCU can address the fact that The Punisher—while fun to watch—is not, in fact, a “good guy.” After all, Darth Vader might be cool as heck, but he’s not supposed to make you want to go out and slaughter children with a sword.

No word yet as to when Daredevil: Born Again and John Bernthal’s Punisher will hit Disney +.

Source: Collider