Posted in: Disney+, Movies, TV | Tagged: daredevil, punisher

Jon Bernthal on Penning Punisher Special: "Frank is in My Bones"

Jon Bernthal discusses how co-writing the upcoming Frank Castle, aka Punisher, "Special Presentation" came about and who he has consulted.

It was a little more than a month ago when Marvel Television and Marvel Animation head Brad Winderbaum confirmed that Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle, aka Punisher, would be making the jump from Showrunner Dario Scardapane's Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock) and Vincent D'Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/Kingpin)-starring Daredevil: Born Again to his own Marvel "Special Presentation" penned by Bernthal and Reinaldo Marcus Green (We Own This City), with Green also tapped to direct. "I've said it a million times: Frank is in my bones, is in my heart. I care about him," Bernthal shared with Collider during an interview at CinemaCon 2025 (where he was supporting his and Ben Affleck's new film, The Accountant 2) when asked how his co-writing the special came about.

"In discussing what this thing could be and this sort of version of Frank that I really felt that the audience was hungry for, that the military community was hungry for it, the first responder community, the comic book fans, they were really hungry for it. I presented that version to them, and they encouraged me. They encouraged me to keep coming to the table," Bernthal added. "As we were talking with different writers, the ideas that we were coming up with started to resonate, and I think they saw how much they resonated with me. I got a great group of vets that I work with. One in particular, my friend Nick, he's just been incredible. I hope that it goes alright. I don't like talking about these things because it's a little bit of bark before there's a bite, you know? I'm honored, and I'm grateful. It's an incredible group of people that we're assembling."

Daredevil: Born Again: Bernthal on Turning Down Punisher Return

Speaking with EW for an interview that went live shortly after tonight's premiere, Bernthal shared that he originally turned down the offer to return as Frank, revealing the reason why. From there, he notes what it was that brought him back to "Born Again" and who helped him prepare for his return.

Before the creative overhaul that brought Scardapane on board, Bernthal was approached about a possible return in a series that he felt was too "weekly procedural" and too detached from the original Netflix series. "Ultimately, I didn't see it. I didn't see the version of Frank, and what they wanted from Frank [didn't] really make sense to me and I thought it would not appeal to the fans and wouldn't be congruent. It was not something I was really interested in doing. So we had to walk away," Bernthal shared.

That changed after Marvel Studios hit the brakes and brought on Scardapane to take the reigns of Daredevil: Born Again – especially considering the time that Bernthal spent with The Punisher writer and executive producer during their run together. For this go-around, Bernthal was brought in the help craft the character he had successfully brought to live-action life in the past. They really brought me into the conversation," he explained. "We really got specific about where Frank is psychologically, where Frank's at physically." Bernthal goes on to credit Scardapane, second unit director Phil Silvera, his stunt double, Eric Linden, and trainer Nick Koumalatsos for helping to train and prepare him for his return.

As Bernthal sees it, it's this level of care and concern about a character and how they're portrayed that makes the difference between bringing back a character just for fan-servicing as opposed to bringing them back in a way that stays true to the character and gives the viewers a meaningful experience. "Sometimes you have to be very, very clear with your intentions in this business. You can't get confused with how much you love something, how much you love playing something, how much you want to do something. You got to make sure you're serving it. You got to make sure you're doing justice to the people that believe in it and doing justice to the iterations that have come before you," Bernthal explained.

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