Yesterday evening's episode of Daredevil: Born Again delivered one of the show's best moments yet when Matt Murdock reunited with Frank Castle. The MCU versions of these characters have formed an uneasy alliance and seemed almost friendly...when punches weren't being thrown, of course.
It's no secret at this point that the series went through some huge changes during its "creative overhaul" and it sounds like The Punisher's role was chief among them.
According to @MyTimeToShineH, Jon Bernthal's return was originally meant to happen in episode 5 but was brought forward to this instalment. It's unclear how much, if any, of the actor's scenes were pre-overhaul but the scooper says ADR added the word "Bullseye" - the first time Dex has been referred to by the moniker - and new shots of Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock.
It's hard to fathom a version of Daredevil: Born Again without The Punisher, and even harder to believe that Marvel Studios so badly dropped the ball on the character. Bernthal walking away might just be one of the red flags that prompted a creative overhaul and the departure of original showrunners Matt Corman and Chris Ord.
As we first reported last night, Bernthal has confirmed reports from last year that he originally didn't see eye-to-eye with Marvel Studios over The Punisher's portrayal in Daredevil: Born Again.
"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 would not appeal to the fans and wouldn't be congruent," the actor told Entertainment Weekly. "It was not something I was really interested in doing. So we had to walk away."
"They really brought me into the conversation," he said of new Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane. "We really got specific about where Frank is psychologically, where Frank's at physically."
"Sometimes you have to be very, very clear with your intentions in this business," Bernthal continued. "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."
While "Sic Semper Systema" is a must-watch episode, you can check out Matt's emotional exchange with Frank in the player below.
In Marvel Television's Daredevil: Born Again, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
The series also stars Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Zabryna Guevara, Nikki James, Genneya Walton, Arty Froushan, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, with Ayelet Zurer and Jon Bernthal. Dario Scardapane is showrunner.
"A masterpiece of epic proportions, Daredevil: Born Again delivers a powerful, unmissable take on the Man Without Fear," we said in our review. "Putting street-level heroics on the map in a way that promises to change the MCU forever, the show is sublime superhero storytelling on a whole new level."
Daredevil: Born Again's first four episodes are now streaming on Disney+.