Jon Bernthal returns to his most punishing role. The actor will reprise Frank Castle, aka the anti-hero The Punisher, in Marvel Studios’ Daredevil: Born Againsources say The Hollywood Reporter.
Bernthal joins Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio on the series, which begins filming in New York this month. Unlike other Marvel series that come with six or nine episodes per season, Born again is planned as a huge 18-episode epic. Writers and executive producers Matt Corman and Chris Ord are behind the show, which is expected to bow in the spring of 2024.
Marvel could not be reached for comment.
Born again takes its title from a landmark daredevil story published in 1986, written by Frank Miller and drawn by David Mazzuchelli. The show deviates from that plot, but how much is unclear. The Punisher, for example, did not appear in the comics. Daredevil versus Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, remains the focal point.
Bernthal first played the grieving father who had woken up on Netflix’s version of daredevil, which debuted the character during 2016’s second season. He went on to lead his own series for Netflix, playing the title character for two seasons The Punisherwhich spanned 2017-19.
Born again follows Netflix’s daredevil series that ran for three seasons from 2013-18. It was known as the Netflix era of Marvel TV and was back when the series site was not integrated with Marvel’s movie site. Marvel TV, then run by Jeph Loeb, produced a number of series for Netflix, including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist on top of daredevil and Punishes. Netflix canceled its Marvel shows ahead of the late 2019 launch of rival streaming service Disney+.
Bernthal and his co-stars, it seemed, were done with Marvel. But in January 2021, Marvel boss Kevin Feige told THR he believed the Netflix characters were still in play, and at the end of the year Cox was revealed to have a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home and continued to perform She-Hulk. His daredevil co-star D’Onofrio appeared in Hawkeyeand both Cox and D’ONofrio are key figures in the upcoming Echoa series said to set the scene for Born again.
However, other actors from Netflix daredevil series is not expected to return. Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson, who played the classic supporting characters Karen Page and Foggy Nelson, respectively, are not on the roll call for the Marvel series. It is also unclear if these characters will be reworked or removed from the story.
Bernthal was already known to genre fans thanks to his breakout role as Shane Walsh The Walking Dead when he came along daredevil, and the Marvel role solidified him as a comic book favorite. In recent years, the actor has also appeared in the Oscar-winning King Richard and Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newarkwhile on TV, he headlined the latest Showtime series American Gigolo.
In late 2021, Bernthal spoke with THR about the possibility of Frank Castle joining the MCU, indicating that he would hope to keep the darkness in the Netflix portrayal.
“I think if there’s any kind of letdown for that character, you’re doing a disservice to the character, to every iteration of the character, to every comic that’s come before, and to all the incredible fans of the character, ” said the actor. . “That grade means so much to people in the military. So like I said before, it’s not about whether you make the grade; it’s about whether you can do it right, and I’m only interested in doing it right.”
Bernthal is repped by CAA and Cognition.