Jon Bernthal Reveals Inspiration For Writing THE PUNISHER Marvel Studios Special Presentation

Jon Bernthal Reveals Inspiration For Writing THE PUNISHER Marvel Studios Special Presentation

Jon Bernthal opens up about what's motivating him to write The Punisher Marvel Studios Special Presentation, offering fans a deeper look into his creative process and connection to the iconic character.

News
By MarkJulian - Apr 20, 2025 06:04 PM EST
Filed Under: Punisher

While walking the red carpet for the premiere of The Accountant 2,  Jon Bernthal was asked to comment on the status of his upcoming Punisher special presentation from Marvel Studios. 

Bernthal took time out to thank the military community for their assistance in helping him define the character and revealed that he's consulting with various specialists to write the show.

Speaking to Who Let Us Out, Bernthal stated, "For the Marine Corps. and that community for helping me on this journey. Helping me write, helping me find this character- some of the best people that we have in this country have worn that Punisher skull on their body armor when they've taken that unbelievable walk into danger to stand up for our country."

"That's something that I take enormously seriously, and I make the show for them; I make it with them. I just really, really want to get it right."

Bernthal first appeared as Frank Castle aka Punisher in 2016's Daredevil season 2 at Netflix and has gone on to star in a standalone spin-off that lasted 2 seasons. Bernthal recently returned to Daredevil to appear in season one of Daredevil: Born Again, and his reported to have an expanded role in season 2.

The Punisher Special Presentation will be released in 2026 and is being developed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (We Own This City), who is co-writing with Bernthal.

In another recent interview discussing the upcoming Disney+ special Bernthal stated, "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. 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."

The Marvel Studios Special Presentations format is generally a standalone television program that is not part of a regularly scheduled series. To date, there have been two Special Presentations- 2022's Werewolf by Night (53 minutes) and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (42 Minutes).

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AllsGood
AllsGood - 4/20/2025, 6:13 PM
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harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 4/20/2025, 6:17 PM
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MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/20/2025, 6:22 PM
"I realized I need Frank to go after way more White people, so Hollywood will hire me more"
dagenspear
dagenspear - 4/20/2025, 7:09 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - You got a problem with white people getting more work. What, are you some kind of SJW wanting white people to get less jobs.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 4/20/2025, 11:59 PM
@dagenspear - are you new here?
dagenspear
dagenspear - 4/21/2025, 2:34 AM
@McMurdo - What's this a reply to.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 4/21/2025, 9:18 AM
@dagenspear - just joking with you. He's all about the white folks so I was just pulling your leg.
dagenspear
dagenspear - 4/21/2025, 9:31 AM
@McMurdo - Ah, that post. Wasn't sure.
0bstreperous
0bstreperous - 4/20/2025, 6:22 PM
But DD born again said cops who wear the symbol are clowns which is it Bernthal?
theprophet
theprophet - 4/20/2025, 6:31 PM
@0bstreperous - because they are not what he represents he goes after people who deserve it, those cops are killing anyone
0bstreperous
0bstreperous - 4/20/2025, 6:39 PM
@theprophet - I know they were bad cops but I think they painted with a broad brush and the original show runners were saying all cops who rep Punisher are bad notice how he didn't mention law enforcement in his shout out
DarkSuperman
DarkSuperman - 4/20/2025, 6:49 PM
@0bstreperous - Any cop who wears the Punisher symbol is more than likely signaling that they see themselves as judge, jury, and executioner—above the law they swore to uphold. The Punisher isn’t a symbol of justice, he’s a vigilante who kills without due process. So why would an officer adopt the icon of a man who operates outside the very system they’re meant to protect, unless they believe they should too?
dagenspear
dagenspear - 4/20/2025, 7:06 PM
@DarkSuperman - They're murdering heroic people and civilians. They're a kill squad, not a vigilante squad.
dagenspear
dagenspear - 4/20/2025, 7:08 PM
@0bstreperous - I think they pretty specifically showed out that Fisk's squad were little more than thugs, not vigilantes. Murdering heroic people and civilians aren't in pursuit of stopping villains.
0bstreperous
0bstreperous - 4/20/2025, 7:31 PM
@DarkSuperman - I see your point but Bernthal has been on record saying he sees the importance of the symbol to military and law enforcement I think the show woked him and am worried about the special presentation
dragon316
dragon316 - 4/20/2025, 7:42 PM
@0bstreperous - cops support punisher https://youtube.com/shorts/J3V2iWtyaC4?si=n3Bcuji-1Q7Sziwy
Amaru
Amaru - 4/20/2025, 11:06 PM
@0bstreperous - If you were smarter you would know that he wasn't saying all cops who wear it are, just the ones that are misusing the symbol.
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 4/21/2025, 7:41 AM
@0bstreperous - "the show woked him." LOL. No who has sworn an oath to protect the Constitution should idolize the Punisher.
Tonic24k
Tonic24k - 4/21/2025, 8:56 AM
@0bstreperous - "Woked" him?... Dude, did you not see him brutally murder folks in this show? Some of y'all really gotta stop reaching to be irrationally concerned.

But also, as a military veteran myself, there's a big difference between the philosophy of a war veteran and a local police officer. The mission is COMPLETELY different. And the character was a Marine, not a cop. To conflate the two is where the discrepancy is in your understanding.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 4/21/2025, 10:16 AM
@0bstreperous - I think there's a huge difference between Marines wearing it into battle and police wearing it.
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 4/21/2025, 10:48 AM
@0bstreperous - A cop takes an oath to protect and serve. The Punisher punished and executes. You can't be both and this is what has caused Frank and Matt to clash. Because Frank explained countless times that the moment you kill you can't pick and choose when it's convenient. The cops are killing anyone they want which defies their sworn oath. That's why The Punisher despises them.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 4/20/2025, 6:42 PM
We need a thousand more grunts and yelling
McMurdo
McMurdo - 4/21/2025, 12:00 AM
@bobevanz - yeah lol dude sounded like he was trying to hump all those dirty cops not kill em.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 4/20/2025, 6:49 PM
Cool , I hope it turns out well!!.

I wonder if the original show was so military focused due to Bernthal’s involvement since he’s always talked about that being a big influence on his version of Frank Castle?.

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BruceWayng
BruceWayng - 4/20/2025, 7:03 PM
I’m kinda sick of wartime PTSD Frank…I just wanna see The Punsiher shoot a bunch of criminals with a variety of different weapons and tools. Give me an hour of that without any “Frank” time or scenes with dialogue about how “the pain stays with you”.

I need a break from the speeches about emotional pain and just wanna see him dish out physical pain to greasy mobsters
MisterBones
MisterBones - 4/20/2025, 7:25 PM
@BruceWayng - agree completely. Feels like we can see a Frank who is sort of past all of this at this point. It’s about THE MISSION now.
LoudLon
LoudLon - 4/20/2025, 7:41 PM
@BruceWayng - Wasn't it established in DD Season 2 that the brain damage Frank suffered from being shot in the head left him in a perpetual state of PTSD, constantly experiencing the murder of his family as if it just happened?

Personally, I was never a fan of the Punisher in the comics. In the comics, he murders by choice. That's not heroic, to me. I thought the explanation they gave in DDS2 made him a much more interesting and compelling. Especially since the tough-as-nails soldier in him refuses to accept that he has no control over the vengeful impulses the brain trauma left him with, and instead insists that it's a choice.

That, to me, is far more interesting than just "A bad guy killed my family so now I want to kill ALL bad guys."
Dotanuki
Dotanuki - 4/20/2025, 8:12 PM
@BruceWayng - just watch Punisher: Warzone
Fogs
Fogs - 4/21/2025, 3:29 AM
@BruceWayng - Yes, please. They spent waaaay more time justifying what he does than showing what he does.
Fogs
Fogs - 4/21/2025, 3:30 AM
@LoudLon - The thing is the man goes after really evil people. And he made non killing choices many times when it fits the story.
Tonic24k
Tonic24k - 4/21/2025, 8:59 AM
@BruceWayng - Did you not watch the show? He brutally murdered people in many different ways.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 4/21/2025, 10:18 AM
@BruceWayng - This is what I've wanted since day one. Punisher, as a character, is seriously messed up in the head. I'm just tired of him fighting the government and Black ops military.

It's time to get him where he belongs and where he's the best. Which is fighting the worst scum of street crime around. Mobsters, gun runners, traffickers, drug lords. All of that.
LoudLon
LoudLon - 4/21/2025, 2:27 PM
@Fogs - I get that he goes after really evil people, but even really evil people have rights.

I'm a veteran myself (Army, infantry) and even though I've been out of the service for many years at this point, I still take my constitutional oath very seriously and have zero respect for any soldier, active or retired, who doesn't.

See, contrary to what some may think, it's not a soldier's job to kill bad people. Our job is to uphold the Constitution and defend our country. Sometimes, yes, that involves taking a life, and that's primarily what infantry soldiers like I was are trained to do -- but only when absolutely necessary, and under specific circumstances, in accordance with the UCMJ. Any act of killing beyond those boundaries and circumstances is just plain murder.

Of course there's an argument to be made that all superheroes are vigilantes who operate outside of the law, but on the same token, not all superheroes flat-out murder the villains. The ones who do, those aren't heroes in my eyes. They're just murderers themselves. That's what Punisher (comics version) is, to me. Just a murderer.

But as I said, at least in the DD show, his compulsion to kill bad guys is a result of the physical trauma to his brain. And I love Jon Bernthal as an actor, and I think he does a fantastic job of making it clear that Castle's pride won't let him accept that his actions are beyond his own control, so he insists that he kills by choice. He took a black-and-white character and added shades of gray. Bernthal's Frank Castle is complex, and you empathize with him.

But in the comics? No. He just likes killing bad guys. There's no complexity to it, it's just plain old revenge and a love of killing people he feels deserves it. That's not heroic, to me.

But I'm happy to hear others' opinions. :)
Fogs
Fogs - 4/21/2025, 3:11 PM
@LoudLon - I respect your point of view, 100%. Specially from a man who served the country.

Perhaps it would be better to distance the character from reality. He's violent? Sure. We have many characters like that. Lobo, Spawn, wolverine and his many variants have killed villains. The thing is having this specific nuanced character in opposition to a wargod like Thor or a true hero like Caps or Superman.

But comics' Castle isn't that one dimensional as you think. He ponders too. But when he has a plan, he literally executes it. It's a different type of character, one noone should aspire to mimic. I'm a very pacific person, but if I can't distance myself from fiction or art for that matter, I won't be consuming much media tbh.

Godfather is one of my favorite trilogies and I think they're all a-holes if they were real. Just like Walter White or Frank Castle.
LoudLon
LoudLon - 4/21/2025, 3:47 PM
@Fogs - I totally get what you mean. Assholes in movies, comics, etc. can be entertaining, because we know they're not real. We can sit back and enjoy their antics because nobody's actually getting hurt. Assholes in real life, totally different story.
Fogs
Fogs - 4/21/2025, 4:27 PM
@LoudLon - Yeap. That's why I don't watch these true crime shit shows.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 4/20/2025, 7:24 PM
this is what happens when you don't take naps
Dotanuki
Dotanuki - 4/20/2025, 8:10 PM
Yes, maybe his dialogue can be more like a 1990s WWE wrestler. His version of the Punisher is poor. The DD:BA version is ridiculous. Whatever.
RolandD
RolandD - 4/20/2025, 8:15 PM
"That's something that I take enormously seriously, and I make the show for them; I make it with them. I just really, really want to get it write." Um, okay. I already see a problem with getting it write. 😂 Since it’s an interview as opposed to a tweet or something like that, I presume that error is not on Bernthal, but I couldn’t help pointing it out since it was such an ironic mistake.
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