The Punisher: Jon Bernthal Fought To Keep Frank Castle From Being Too Heroic Or Likeable

Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher was one of the best things to come out of Daredevil season two, and fan reception for the character was so positive that the Punisher is getting his own solo series later this year. Apparently Bernthal considers himself to have a deep understanding of his character, and he fought to make sure that his version of Castle didn't get too likeable.

In an interview with Moviefone, Bernthal explains:

"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."

It's quite ironic because Frank Castle being himself is basically what audience members want to see from the Punisher. I think Marvel Netflix did a really good job with introducing Frank to the street-level MCU, and hopefully we can see Bernthal in a full-length movie as Castle. There's plenty of room in Marvel Phase 4.

So far, Netflix is gearing up for the release of The Defenders which comes out tomorrow, and though the Punisher isn't part of the main ensemble, you can expect him to make a small appearance.

The Punisher is expected to come out later this year.

See Also: The Punisher Series Is About 'Men Suffering Tragedy And Trauma'