Jon Bernthal made his Marvel debut in Daredevil Season 2 on Netflix, and later went on to headline two seasons of The Punisher (which received mixed-to-positive reviews). While fans continuously demanded his MCU return, that didn't happen until last year in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1.
The actor only appeared briefly for a heated confrontation with Matt Murdock and a team-up with the Man Without Fear that led to Frank brutalising Mayor Wilson Fisk's Anti-Vigilante Task Force.
Bernthal has since headlined The Punisher: One Last Kill on Disney+ and will have a starring role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day later this month. However, all of that very nearly didn't happen because the actor walked away from the pre-creative overhaul version of Daredevil: Born Again.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Bernthal revealed that what showrunners Chris Ord and Matt Corman had in mind for Frank was why he initially turned the series down.
"I didn't like what they had for Frank at all," he noted. "Ultimately, they gave me something that they let me rework and rewrite — and they aired that. It worked for them."
His Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 role, which happened under new showrunner Dario Scardapane's watch, led to him teaming with filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green to co-write a Special Presentation. Explaining that it was the result of "five years of negotiating and navigating, of not doing a lighter version that maybe they wanted," Bernthal added, "I insisted that I had to be the creative force behind it."
When it comes to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it sounds like we can expect a brotherly dynamic between the two heroes, with The Punisher imparting some advice to the web-slinger when he notices some tension between him and MJ.
"Frank is purpose-driven, mission-driven, 'leave me the f*** alone' — and I love when there are little cracks in that," Bernthal teases. "He’s like, 'Why are you being a dick to her? Don’t do that — that’s what I do.' To see himself in this and then be a little bit protective like, 'You’re trying to do the whole dark thing, don’t do that shit, I do that shit, it’s not fun, do your shit' — I love that, and I really buy that."
What The Punisher's future looks like beyond Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a mystery to us. One Last Kill left the door open to a sequel and a "rematch" with Ma Gnucci, but it's unclear whether Marvel Television is ready or willing to commit to a full-blown series.
Still, doing so after an appearance in what will likely be the summer's biggest hit wouldn't be a bad move. With any luck, Bernthal's MCU future will be revealed at next weekend's San Diego Comic-Con.
In other street-level news, Iron Fist star Finn Jones—who returns as Danny Rand in Daredevil: Born Again Season 3—weighed in on his MCU future at this past weekend's Florida Supercon (via @Cosmic_Marvel).
"We’ve seen Danny a lot in the kind of street-level New York world," he told fans, suggesting that a team-up with Shang-Chi is something he'd get behind. "I think it would be kind of cool to see him go a bit more mystical, a bit more powerful."
Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31, with some early screenings set for July 29.