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Ever since Daredevil: Born Again was confirmed to be in development at Disney+, fans have been waiting to see Jon Bernthal return as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher. The actor played the superhero in Netflix’s Daredevil and later got his own spin-off series on the streamer.
While Bernthal’s performance as the deadly vigilante was loved by everyone, the actor went through a hard time getting into the skin of his character. Ahead of his debut as the superhero in Daredevil in 2016, Bernthal had an interview with Entertainment Weekly, in which he revealed he had to get into a mentally dark space to prepare for his role as The Punisher:
“Especially at the beginning, what was powerful was a lot of isolation. The first few months I was taking long walks across the Brooklyn Bridge to the set, trying to shed any outside influence of joy.”
Daredevil: Born Again star Jon Bernthal went to extreme lengths to prepare for his role as The Punisher
In the interview, Jon Bernthal discussed how playing The Punisher was not only physically challenging but also mentally exhausting. Talking about the physical aspect of the character, the actor said:
“The training and physicality is extremely important in whatever I do. Luckily, I know guys in the military branch he was in. I trained with them and trained a lot with weapons.”
He further talked about the emotional aspect of the character, highlighting how there is an emptiness in Frank Castle. To faithfully portray the vigilante’s emotions and internal struggles, Bernthal spent six months in a mentally dark space:
“With Frank, what was important was the emptiness inside him. He’s dealing with this unbelievable loss. There’s unbelievable anger and hatred and shame.”
“There’s a sense of responsibility and as a father and husband, if I were to lose my family on my watch … I had to put myself in as dark of place as possible the last six months.”
Bernthal’s intense method surely worked as Frank Castle became a fan-favorite character in Daredevil season 2. In 2017, he went on to have his own series on Netflix, titled The Punisher, which was canceled after two seasons when Marvel decided to end its contract with Netflix.
Along with the return of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again, fans also demanded the comeback of Bernthal as Frank Castle. The creators ultimately gave in to the demand, and the actor was cast as the vigilante in March 2023.
Two years later, Daredevil: Born Again premiered on Disney+, and audiences are now eager to see when The Punisher appears on the screen again. Meanwhile, a special feature based on the vigilante was also confirmed by Disney+ in February 2025 and is expected to premiere sometime in 2026.
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Apart from Jon Bernthal and Charlie Cox, Daredevil: Born Again stars Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, Wilson Bethel as Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Margarita Levieva as Heather Glenn, Kamar de los Reyes as Hector Ayala, Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Marianna-Fisk, Arty Froushan as Buck Cashman, and Genneya Walton as BB Urich.
Daredevil: Born Again season 1 airs new episodes on Disney+ on Tuesdays.
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