Jon Bernthal Says His Punisher Special Will More Than Deliver

The return of Jon Bernthal as the Punisher has been one of several selling points for Daredevil: Born Again. That excitement only grew when we learned the antihero was getting a spotlight all to himself, and now Bernthal’s teasing out what fans can expect from Frank Castle’s little one-off.

While doing interviews for The Accountant 2 at SXSW, the actor said he was “really grateful that I’m gettig the opportunity to tell the story that I think the fans deserve. We’re giving it our all, and we’re trying to tell a Frank Castle story that we’re going to turn out back on the audience. It”s not going to be light, and I think it’s the version that this character deserves.” Tone-wise, he promised this special wouldn’t be “Punisher-lite. It’s going to be dark; Frank has no interest in breaking out of the darkness. It’s not going to be easy.”

Even before we learned he’d come back, Bernthal’s always been open about his affection for the Punisher, and the special takes on more significance since he’s cowriting it with Reinaldo Marcus Green. Born Again’s first season also brings in characters who looooove Frank—specifically, police who’ve bought into his “shoot first, ask never” mentality. Showrunner Dario Scardapane recently told IGN that story has been “begging to be told,” and will run throughout the show’s two seasons. Without spoiling anything, the show eventually puts Frank in the orbit of those cops, and in a place where his special can pick up on that thread. It’ll be interesting to see how that links up with Born Again’s second season, and how much more Frank we be getting afterward. They brought him back for a reason, and this show and special likely won’t be the end of the line for him.

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[via The Hollywood Reporter]

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