Studios had always found the Punisher to be a tough nut to crack, with three feature films based on Marvel Comics’ antihero being made between 1989 and 2008 that saw Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane and Ray Stevenson all try their hand at playing Frank Castle. None of the movies proved to be successful enough to kickstart a franchise, though, and it wasn’t until the character made his way to the small screen that the vigilante was finally done justice.
After being introduced in Netflix’s Daredevil, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher was rewarded with his own series that ran for two seasons before being cancelled along with the rest of the streaming service’s Marvel output. While the show may have suffered from the typical Netflix bloat that saw a relatively thin story stretched out across thirteen episodes both times, everyone was in unanimous agreement that Bernthal’s performance placed him head and shoulders above anyone else to have played the part.
The rights to all of the Netflix titles have been reverting back to Marvel Studios lately, but as a property that definitely wouldn’t work in a PG-13 environment, there’s been plenty of speculation over what the future holds for the Punisher. However, in a recent interview, Bernthal made it perfectly clear that he hasn’t given up on Frank Castle just yet and believes a third season could still happen.
“It’s unbelievably humbling how much people sort of responded to this version of Frank, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me because he means so much to me. He’s in my blood, he’s in my bones. So it’s not about whether we do it, it’s about getting it right, and doing the version that the fans really deserve. We’ll see. I mean, all of those decisions are made in rooms I am not invited into. But Frank’s always there, he’s always a part of me. And when we get the call to go, I’ll be ready, and I’ll make sure that I do everything I can to make sure that we do it right, or we won’t do it at all.”
The 44 year-old has never hidden the fact that he holds the character very close to his heart, even if he suffered from a laundry list of injuries during his tenure that would have put many actors off. And if Marvel Studios are interested in reintroducing the Punisher into their cinematic universe, then surely Bernthal would be at the top of their list for who to play the role.
