When the news broke in the trades that Daredevil and The Punisher star Jon Bernthal would reprise his role as Frank Castle in Daredevil: Born Again, it's fair to say fans were overjoyed.
However, things can always change and it appears the actor may have had second thoughts about returning to the MCU. According to a fan who met Bernthal at a recent fan event, he "hated" what Marvel Studios was doing with the revival series before that recent creative overhaul and decided to turn the project down.
After the previous writers and directors were essentially fired, The Punisher showrunner Dario Scardapane was hired to make sense of what had already been shot and to come up with new episodes. Moon Knight and Loki directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, meanwhile, are at the helm of those.
That appeared to be more than enough to bring Bernthal back and board, and it sounds like Deborah Ann Woll's return as Karen Page was a big deal for The Punisher actor as well.
Later, the fan added, "He told me that he’s apparently been turning down [Marvel] when it comes to playing [The Punisher] over and over again because they hadn’t been getting it right, but the small part he now has in [Daredevil: Born Again] is good in his eyes."
This is a surprisingly candid series of comments from Bernthal. While we'd advise taking them with a pinch of salt given that we're not hearing from him directly, they go some way in explaining why Marvel Studios felt the need to go back to the drawing board.
The cast of Daredevil: Born Again includes Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher, and Sandrine Holt as Vanessa Fisk.
Michael Gandolfini, Margarita Levieva, Nikki M. James, Michael Gaston, Arty Froushan, and Clark Johnson have all been cast in undisclosed roles and, as part of this creative overhaul, Daredevil star Wilson Bethel will also make his return as the villainous "Dex"/Bullseye.
Daredevil: Born Again will likely premiere on Disney+ in 2025/2026.