Daredevil Born Again: the (short) return of Punisher explained

Jon Bernthal tells his return to Marvel. A lot of mouths before?

It was fast! The long -awaited meeting between Matt Murdock and Frank Castle, in the fourth episode of Daredevil: Born Again was not warm. And she was a little bit shipped! Jon Bernthalwhich resumes his role as Frank Castle for the first time since the judgment of The Punisher On Netflix in 2019, considers this return as “a simple immersion“To reintroduce the character.

“It was the type: let’s see if it works …“explains Bernthal in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “”Let us see if there is a real opening and a desire to let Frank be what it is really, that is to say dark enough to have the courage to turn your back on the public, to make things difficult, psychologically complex, avoiding any cute or humorous side, and going there.“”

Although its appearance in episode 4 is limited to a single scene (at least for the moment), Bernthal says: “I have the impression that it opened the door to a version of Frank Castle closer to the one I really want to embody. “

When Dario Scardapane was named Showrunner, Marvel approached Jon Bernthal With a more collaborative approach than in the past: “They really integrated me into the conversation“Explains the actor.”We have precisely defined where Frank is psychologically and physically. “

Bernthal attributes a large part of the result to Scardapane, to the director of the second unit Phil Silvera (who defined Frank’s physicity in Daredevil on Netflix), to his stuntman Eric Linden and at Nick Koumalatsosa former Raider navy who helped him both in terms of training and psychologically. This teamwork made it possible to shape a Frank Castle in accordance with the vision of Bernthal, a character who resonates strongly with comics fans, but also with military and police communities:

“In this profession, you have to be very clear about your intentions. It is not enough to love a character or want to embody it, you have to serve it properly. You have to do justice to those who believe in it and respect the iterations that preceded it.”

In Daredevil: Born AgainFrank Castle becomes a kind of devil on the shoulder of Daredevil. Even if Matt Murdock tries to contain his interior demons, the Punish comes back to encourage him to plunge into violence.

“There is a little Frank in each of us, I am convinced“, A fun Jon Bernthal. “”As this reply says: ‘We are all a bad day to become me.’ Frank sees himself in Matt, and Matt knows that there is a part of Frank in him. There is a jubilation in this reality, but also an opposition. Frank does not have time for gray areas, for questioning. He is convinced that Matt’s doubts and procrastination go against his truth, and he knows. For him, nothing is more satisfactory than having this knowledge and tormenting Matt, because he knows that he is right.“”

Bernthal ignores to what extent he can say about his future as a PunishIn Daredevil Born Again or after – a project of special For Disney Plus has already been mentioned – but he appreciates having an influence on the direction of the character:

“”What I really like about this team is that they have their vision, their idea where they want to take it and the universe in which it must evolve. But they also leave me a real freedom on the way in which it is brought to it, by ensuring that it is authentic and truthful.“”