Jon Bernthal, the actor who played the latest live-action iteration of the Punisher, holds such a deep admiration and respect for the Marvel character that he will only come back if it’s done right.
After his wildly popular Netflix series was cancelled after two seasons in 2019, there was seemingly no hope for Bernthal’s Punisher to return to the small screen. At least, until it was announced last year he would be returning to the role — this time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The titular antihero, whose real name is Frank Castle, is different from many of his comic-book counterparts in that he brutally maims and kills criminals, especially those connected to the murder of his wife and two children.
Moving forward, Bernthal hopes to capture that same level of grittiness and violence that was present in the Netflix show.
In an interview with Collider earlier this month, Bernthal spoke about his love for the character and how he wants to honor the source material.
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“He exists very strongly inside me and I care about that character deeply,” he said.
“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,” the actor added. “I’m gonna do my absolute best to make sure that, if and when we do it, we do it right.”
Bernthal also explained fans love the gun-toting vigilante because everyone can resonate with him.
“I think there’s a reason why that character has resonated as deeply and strongly as he has,” he told Collider. “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.”
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Over the years, police officers and military members have worn the Punisher’s iconic skull emblem on their uniforms and vehicles to show their affinity for the character and his ideals of vigilante justice.
The symbol, however, has recently gotten pushback because some Americans associated it with police brutality — a hot-button topic that reached its peak after the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Since then, writers and editors at Marvel Comics have continued backing away from the character because of what he stands for. In 2022, Marvel Entertainment officially retired the classic white skull on Castle’s vest and replaced it with a new horned skull resembling an oni, a Japanese mythological demon.
Even Gerry Conway, the character’s creator, criticized the old symbol’s application in the U.S., likening it to “putting a Confederate flag on a government building.”
Comic-book legend Chuck Dixon, who previously wrote Punisher comics, believes Marvel holds contempt for the “blue collar” antihero because the military and police adopted his iconography. Therefore, the company holds contempt for its readers as well, according to Dixon.
“And, you know, cops are wearing the symbol, ‘Eww!’ Our soldiers are wearing the symbol, ‘Oh Boo! Boo! Boo! We don’t like them and so we don’t like them, we don’t like the Punisher readers. We’re going to take the Punisher and we’re going to mangle him and we’re going to destroy him. We’re going to do what no other entertainment company ever has done. We are going to purposely take one of our intellectual properties and tear it to the ground.’ And that’s what they did. And it is for that reason,” he said on his YouTube channel, Bounding into Comics reported.
“The main reason they wanted to get rid of the Punisher is because they hated the Punisher and they hate you for liking it. It’s that simple,” Dixon added.
It remains unclear if Bernthal will once again don the controversial logo in future Marvel projects.
Bernthal is set to reprise his role as the Punisher in the upcoming Disney+ series “Daredevil: Born Again,” a reboot of Netflix’s “Daredevil.”
