John Bernthal addresses the fandom’s desire to see him return as the Punisher or play ‘Wolverine’, explaining what it would take for him to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Following his breakout role in AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ and films like Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013), Bernthal first appeared as Frank Castle aka ‘The Punisher’ in season 2 of Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’, before starring in a solo series from 2017-2019. Before the streamer canceled its Marvel shows, ‘The Punisher’, ‘Daredevil’, ‘Luke Cage’, and Jessica Jones were considered some of the best comic book adaptations available.
Marvel Studios now exclusively owns the rights to characters like Frank Castle and Matt Murdock, and fans continue to speculate how/when the ‘Punisher’ and ‘Daredevil’ will appear in the MCU. The latter, in particular, has been at the center of this conversation with Charlie Cox rumored to appear in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. If Cox’s character does appear, his ‘Daredevil’ would presumably lead the charge on the implementation of other fan-favorites like Bernthal’s ‘Punisher’. This same genre of discourse applies to Disney’s acquisition of Fox, which brings the ‘X-Men’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ under the umbrella of Marvel Studios. If Bernthal doesn’t reprise his beloved role, fans have also expressed an interest in seeing him pick up Hugh Jackman’s claws.
In an interview with Forbes, Bernthal discussed his recent roles in ‘Small Engine Repair’, ‘The Many Saints of Newark’, FX/Hulu’s anthology series ‘The Premise’, and, of course, a recurring onslaught of Marvel-related questions. When asked about the ‘Punisher’ appearing in the MCU, the actor expressed ignorance regarding any future plans but admitted he’d be open to reprising the role if it was done so in a way worthy of the character and fans, a sentiment consistent with his answer to whether he’d considered playing ‘Logan’/’Wolverine’. Comic Book
