‘The Punisher’: Jon Bernthal On Why He Accepted The Role Of Frank Castle

After two unsuccessful attempts to bring The Punisher to the big screen, the character finally made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut this year on the second season of the Netflix series Daredevil. While the previous two Punisher films have their fans, Jon Bernthal’s turn as the character was the first to receive an overwhelmingly positive reception, prompting Netlix to order a Punisher solo series from Marvel Television. However, while Jon Bernthal’s performance was largely praised, the actor revealed to GQ that he was initially hesitant to become involved in superhero based projects.

Bernthal explained that he initially had no interest in the superhero genre until he learned more about Frank Castle.

I’m working on The Punisher now. You know, this whole superhero-comic-book thing is something I had zero interest in being a part of. The guys that I really, really respect as actors seem to have kind of purposely stayed away from that. I don’t mean that I’m above that or anything, just that it was not for me. But then when I got to know a little bit about this character… He ain’t got a fucking cape. He ain’t got any superpowers. He’s a fucking tortured, angry father and husband who’s living in this unbelievable world of darkness and loss and torment. Frank Castle resonates with me.

Bernthal also expressed his appreciation for the comic book fan base.

And comic-book fans are the greatest fans on earth. It’s not like their insane fervor isn’t based on anything. This is a super-intelligent fan base, because reading a comic book requires you to do a lot of work. You’ve got to fill in all these fucking gaps. I’m respectful of that. These characters exist in their minds and hearts.

The second season of Daredevil left plenty of mysteries on Frank Castle’s backstory wide open and fans are excited to see the character’s story continue.

The Punisher is speculated to be released on Netflix in 2017.

Source: GQ