Jon Bernthal is back in Punisher shape ahead of his ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ return

Jon Bernthal is gearing up for his return as The Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again, with new footage showing the actor mastering his gunmanship alongside fellow The Punisher actor Thomas Jane. In a video uploaded by gunsmith company Taran Tactical Innovations, Bernthal can be seen firing with pinpoint precision at dummy targets, soundtracked by action-movie style backing music. “I didn’t know you got to get them in the head to get them down,” Bernthal says of the targets in the clip. 

The video also includes a montage of Bernthal reloading and aiming various guns, including a so-called Pit Viper. Interestingly, the company’s Pit Viper made an appearance in the John Wick franchise, when it was used by the titular assassin in the most recent installment, John Wick: Chapter 4. The Hollywood weapons trainer also worked with Michael B Jordan and Lupita Nyong’o for Black Panther, with additional credits for Tenet and Army of the Dead.  

In a separate social media post, Taran Tactical Innovations described Bernthal and Jane’s visit as “our own Multi-verse [of] Punishers,” in reference to that actors’ joint portrayal of the character in various iterations of Daredevil. Bernthal will undoubtedly put his handiwork to use in Born Again. For his part, Jane portrayed the character in 2004’s The Punisher, though he was later recast in the second installment of that franchise by Ray Stevenson. 

Bernthal will star as the anti-hero alongside Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin, among others. The actor’s gun-slinging comes amid a flurry of developments surrounding Born Again, following the recent announcement that television veteran Jeffrey Nachmanoff will direct at least one of the series’ 18-episode debut season. 

Elsewhere, Vincent D’Onofrio recently recounted an “intense” experience while shooting the series, while speculation grew that Born Again will retcon a major plotline integral to the Netflix iteration. Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes footage of Cox in lawyer attire has done the rounds online.