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Jon Bernthal, who played Punisher in the second season of the Marvel Netflix series Daredevil and its spin-off, The Punisher, is set to reprise his role in the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Born Again will premiere in Spring 2024, with a whopping 18 episodes for its first season. It remains to be seen whether it will only be an 18-episode story or if there will be more seasons and episodes.
Following his confirmed involvement in Born Again, Bernthal is the third actor from the Marvel Netflix franchise to jump into the MCU, following Charlie Cox's Daredevil and Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin, both of whom made their MCU debuts in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye respectively.
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"We can already hear the Bernthal Punisher war cry": Fans react as Jon Bernthal shares behind-the-scenes picture from The Punisher
Jon Bernthal confirmed his involvement in Daredevil: Born Again via a new Instagram post on March 8, which showed him in a behind-the-scenes picture for 2017's The Punisher. Bernthal did not put any captions, however. Marvel Studios and Disney are yet to confirm his involvement themselves.
Bernthal received comments welcoming his return to the MCU from some actors from the Marvel Netflix universe. Krysten Ritter, who played Jessica Jones in the Netflix/Disney+ series of the same name and The Defenders, put up a fire emoji.
Ben Barnes, Jon's former co-star from The Punisher, wrote, "Nobody panic," accompanied by three black heart emojis. Michael Gandolfini, who will co-star with Bernthal in Born Again, wrote: "Let's ride JB."
Several fans expressed their excitement at his return. One fan, @daydream310, commented on Bernthal's Instagram post and said:
"We can already hear the Bernthal Punisher war cry."
Another fan, @neilbrownjr, used a teary-laughing emoji, a heart and fire emoji and commented:
"And now, finally, all is right with the world."
It remains to be seen how Jon Bernthal's gun-toting vigilante will be utilized in Daredevil: Born Again and the wider MCU. However, he is rumored to be filling in the role of "a former ally Daredevil is looking for."
This "former ally" was originally going to be fulfilled by Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones. However, scheduling conflicts prevented her from being locked into the show.
Bernthal has, however, stated that he wants the character to retain his darker depiction from the Netflix shows. He said as much in an interview with Forbes' Scott King:
"As far as going on in the future, it’s a character that I really feel like I have sort of in my bones and in my heart. I’m really grateful that I had the opportunity, and what sort of happens in the future isn’t about whether they want to do it or not again. I don’t really prescribe anything to those kinds of decisions."
He added:
"It’s just about, if they do do it, are we gonna be able to do it right? Is it gonna be dark enough? Is it gonna be gritty enough? Are we gonna give the fans, and the folks that this character means so much to, are we gonna give them what they deserve? And if the answer is yes, man oh man, I would love that."
Bernthal's comments indicate that he wants to do the character justice by making him retain his violent, bloodthirsty, and vengeful ways. It remains to be seen how Disney and Marvel Studios will tackle this aspect of The Punisher, seeing as they are more oriented towards making family-friendly content.
As per Deadline, Jon Bernthal's Punisher is also rumored to appear in Armor Wars, which has now been changed from being a Disney+ series to a live-action theatrical film and will focus on Don Cheadle's James Rhodes (War Machine).
Daredevil: Born Again is set to premiere in the Spring of 2024. The following is the confirmed cast of the series:
- Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
- Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
- Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/Punisher
Additionally, Michael Gandolfini, Margarita Leviva, and Sandrine Holt have been cast in undisclosed roles.
