Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) made his official MCU debut last night during episode 4 of Daredevil: Born Again, and even though the character only showed up for one scene, he certainly left a lasting impression.
If you haven't watched yet, spoilers will follow.
"Sic Semper Systema" saw Matt Murdock track down his old "friend" after discovering a bullet casing with a familiar skull logo at the scene of Hector Ayala's murder. Their reunion is as confrontational as you'd expect, as Castle attempts to get Murdock to admit that he wanted to - and should have - ended Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye's life as vengeance for the murder of Foggy Nelson.
"There's a little bit of Frank in all of us; I genuinely believe that," Bernthal tells EW. "Like that line, 'We're all one bad day away from being me.' I think that Frank is seeing himself in Matt, and Matt knows that he's seeing Frank in himself, and there's a glee in that. But also, Frank really has no time for the gray. He has no time for figuring things out or obsessing over things. Frank really believes that the back and forth and the twisting and turning that Matt does is antithetical from his truth, and he knows it. For Frank, there's nothing like having that bit of wisdom over Matt and torturing him about it because he knows that he's right."
We're sure to see Castle again at some point during this season, but even if we don't, Bernthal is set to reprise the role for his own Punisher Disney+ Special Presentation, which he also co-wrote with director Reinaldo Marcus Green (We Own This City).
"I went through the process," says the actor of working on the upcoming one-shot. "I went in, I pitched, I gave an outline before I even put pen to page, and I felt like I did not want them to just hand it to me. They had read some of my writing, asked to come and do a pitch, so I did. And they've held me accountable to every step along the way. I really want to earn this and I really want this to be good. The story that we've laid out is, I think, really special. It's the visceral, psychologically complex, unforgiving, no-holds-barred version of Frank where he's going to turn his back to the audience. And nothing is easy and all violence has a cost, and we're going to see that cost. I'm grateful that they're letting me go to the places that I really want to go."
Bernthal is hesitant to say too much about his future as the ruthless vigilante (he is believed to be involved with season 2 of Born Again), but it sounds like he has confidence in the studio's ongoing plans and ideas for the character.
"What I really appreciate with these guys is that they have their vision," he adds, "they have an idea of where they want him to go and the world in which they want him to exist. But they're really giving me agency on how we get him there and making sure that it's honest and authentic and truthful."
What did you make of Castle's return in tonight's Daredevil: Born Again? Drop us a comment down 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 show 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 on board as showrunner.
Episodes are directed by Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd; and executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Sana Amanat, Chris Gary, Dario Scardapane, Christopher Ord & Matthew Corman, and Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead.