Jon Bernthal may have been the fourth actor to play the Punisher in live-action, following in the footsteps of Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane and Ray Stevenson, but there’s no denying that he is by far the best version of Frank Castle that we’ve ever had. Plenty of people have soft spots for both Jane’s 2004 cult favorite and Stevenson’s violently bonkers War Zone, but Bernthal brought his typical brand of raw intensity to the role, playing Frank as a three-dimensional and tormented veteran.
The actor has frequently admitted his love for the character, and even went as far as to list the huge number of injuries he suffered as a result of playing him in Netflix’s abruptly-canceled series, showing that a few broken bones wouldn’t put him off the Punisher. There’ve been rumors swirling for a while now that Bernthal could be offered the chance to reprise the role as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, too, and in a recent interview, he once again reaffirmed how passionate he is about the character.
“I love playing Frank. I love the Frank fan base. I love how much he means to people in the military community and the law enforcement community, the comic book fans are the best in the world. I care about the guy in my heart. So I was super grateful for the opportunity.
And I think, like I said, to me, it’s really not about whether you do it or not, it’s just really getting it right and doing the version of him that does it justice. And, of course, I’ll always care about Frank with everything I got.”
Bernthal isn’t shy about expressing his desire to keep playing the Punisher, but you can tell from the way he talks about the character that the 43 year-old wouldn’t just sign up to a new movie or TV series for the sake of getting Frank Castle back onscreen. He seems like the kind of actor that take his work very seriously, too, and gives his all in every performance, so it isn’t hard to believe him when he says that the material would really need to do the skull-branded vigilante justice in order for him to continue in the role under the Marvel Studios banner.
