Posted in: Disney+, Netflix, Preview, TV | Tagged: daredevil, disney, frank castle, jon bernthal, netflix, punisher

Daredevil, Punisher Star: "A Little Bit of Frank Castle" In All Of Us

Jon Bernthal (Daredevil, The Punisher) on what makes Frank Castle popular and the important responsibility of doing right by the character.

Heading into the premiere of Marvel Studios' Alaqua Cox & Vincent D'Onofrio-starring Echo earlier this month, the buzz was that the series would bring the canon from Netflix's Charlie Cox & D'Onofrio-starring Daredevil series officially into the MCU "sacred timeline." It made sense since Cox & D'Onofrio had already reprised their roles as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, respectively, on both the film and television sides. And then came word that Jon Bernthal had been tapped to return as Frank Castle/Punisher for the Charlie Cox & D'Onofrio-starring Daredevil: Born Again, which only dumped a whole lot more gasoline on the speculation fires. Then, heading into the debut of the "Hawkeye" spinoff, Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television and Animation at Marvel Studios, shared that he personally believed that it was all "sacred timeline" canon now. Finally – in what might be the final piece of evidence in this case – Disney+ has all of the Netflix-Marvel series listed in the streaming service's MCU timeline.

Which brings us to "Born Again," with the series undergoing some serious revamps courtesy of a change in creative direction back in October 2023 that saw Dario Scardapane (Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, The Punisher) joining the project as showrunner and the co-directing team of Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (Loki) tapped to helm the remainder of the season. Speaking with Collider, Bernthal (Ava DuVernay's Origin) offered his perspective on why he believes the controversial character connects with so many people. "I think there's a reason why that character has resonated as deeply and strongly as he has. In the hearts and minds of comic book fans and first responders and people in the military, and people all over the globe. I think there's a little bit of Frank Castle in everybody. He exists very strongly inside me, and I care about that character deeply," Bernthal explained. With that level of deep care for the character, Bernthal adds that it's important that any potential return should do right by the character and what he's about. "I also know that it's absolutely essential that if we do it, we do it right, and we have real sacred integrity to the source material and to what is at the core of Frank. I'm gonna do my absolute best to make sure that, if and when we do it, we do it right," he added.

Daredevil: Echo Post-Credits Scene Gives New Meaning to "Born Again"?

Without giving away too much, the final showdown between Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) and Kingpin finds Maya using the powers of her Choctaw ancestors to venture into Kingpin's mind to rid him of the pain & rage that's fueled him for so long. Okay, got that? Good… because that leads us to the mid-credits scene. Making a getaway to greener pastures on his private jet, a news report about the New York City mayoral race catches his attention. While the reporter discusses how the city is looking for someone who will fight for them, we see a look on Kingpin's face that says that he believes he could be the answer to NYC's problems. For those of you who are comics fans, you know that Fisk has already recently gone down that route post-"Secret Empire" in a storyline that saw Matt Murdock as deputy mayor and Luke Cage running for office (yeah, there was a lot going on).

But why is this situation so different? Because we don't know which Wilson Fisk wants to be mayor heading into Daredevil: Born Again. We knew what Kingpin we were dealing with pre-Echo, so it would be easy to write this off as just a mad power grab on Kingpin's part. But if all of that pain and rage is now gone, who are we dealing with now? Because "Born Again" takes on a totally different meaning if we're dealing with Fisk legitimately believing he can do right by NYC – that he can be his savior. Throw into that mix the possibility that what Maya did may not stick – maybe Fisk's pain and rage are just too great to stay gone forever. And now that we're thinking about it, having Matt Murdock not believing that Fisk has changed and continuing to target him could also be an interesting way to push Fisk back to his old, big-bad ways.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!