Jon Bernthal Fought To Keep The PUNISHER From Being Too Heroic And Likable

Jon Bernthal Fought To Keep The PUNISHER From Being Too Heroic And Likable

In a new interview, Jon Bernthal states that he didn't want to portray a Punisher that was too heroic and wanted his Netflix series to be bold enough to make the audience unsure of who to root for...

By MarkJulian - Aug 14, 2017 09:08 AM EST
Filed Under: The Punisher
Source: Moviefone
While some folks are ready to signal the end of Marvel TV side of the MCU due to a rare misstep in Iron Fist, it's quite possible that the ship could be righted fairly quickly- first, with The Defenders and then right after that, Jon Bernthal's The Punisher.  Speaking of the latter, what Bernthal tells Moviefone about his upcoming solo Netflix series should intrigue even the most jaded of MCU fans.

“It’s an interesting predicament. To put [the Punisher] as the central character is interesting, I think that my big struggle with him is that one of my biggest kind of things that I’m always fighting for on set is, I always want to preserve the essence of Frank, and have the right and be bold enough to really turn my back on the audience, and not do things to win the audience’s favor, but rather stay true to the character and the essence of who he is.  

So I think that’s the real challenge: being bold enough to not make him too heroic, at least ‘heroic,’ is important to me. That being said, I think there’s Frank Castle inside of everybody, I think being a father and being a husband, he’s a character that I deeply empathize with.”

The Punisher is currently without an exact release date but it will be the next Marvel Netflix collaboration to follow after The Defenders miniseries.  Not much is known about the series but Ben Barnes is set to portray Bily Russo aka Jigsaw although it's currently unknown whether he'll become the disfigured crime boss familar to Marvel readers in the show's first season.  The 13-episode series began filming last October in Brooklyn and recentl wrapped this past April.
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incredibleTalk
incredibleTalk - 8/14/2017, 9:37 AM
....hence the word "punish!"
Buckster10
Buckster10 - 8/14/2017, 10:37 AM
@incredibleTalk - He is my favorite Frank (yes, I feel he brings more pathos and intensity to the role than Jane did). He simple origin was too convoluted in DD, but he did a fantastic job with the more psychotic aspects of Castle's personality. It's just too bad we'll never see him face off against Cap or Spidey.
AgeofHeroes
AgeofHeroes - 8/14/2017, 9:58 AM
sweet chrismas...Defenders this week right?
ScarletWarlock
ScarletWarlock - 8/14/2017, 10:00 AM
Even though I've liked every Marvel Netflix series--however, to varying degrees--I'm still kind of down on it, and there are consistent issues facing these shows that don't seem to be addressed, not to mention we still haven't surpassed the quality of the first season of Daredevil, their first of now FIVE seasons, one of which being a season OF Daredevil.

However, despite the fact that I both like and have issues with most of the shows, I have a reallllllly good feeling about Punisher. It really seems this is their most likely homerun, and it feels like we're getting back to the basics with where we started with DD: Just really well written, grounded, gritty storytelling with complex characters and an interesting crime underworld, except Punisher lends himself to television format even moreso than Daredevil. We don't have to worry if they'll do something justice, because all his stories are doable on a T.V. budget.
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 8/14/2017, 10:02 AM
thank the lord ..... in reality no one should cheer for frank he's really a monster ...lol lol
even tho is wasn't a good movie imo War zone demonstrated his insanity "if i could just get my hands on God..........."
IronGenesis
IronGenesis - 8/14/2017, 10:03 AM
In someways Jon battle is all of our battles
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 8/14/2017, 10:04 AM
That's awesome to hear but it's also illuminates why The Punisher never had been and probably never will be one of my favorite characters.
ODanil
ODanil - 8/14/2017, 10:17 AM
Punisher is way crazier in the comics;
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