Since the 2015 Netflix series, it's hard to picture Charlie Cox's Daredevil without envisioning Jon Bernthal's Punisher by his side. However, Bernthal recently disclosed the reasons behind his initial hesitation to join the Disney+ revival, Daredevil: Born Again.
The actor, known for his role in The Wolf of Wall Street, shared that his initial reservations stemmed from the creative direction proposed for his character, Frank Castle, also known as The Punisher. "Ultimately, I didn't see it. I didn't see the version of Frank, and what they wanted from Frank [didn't] really make sense to me,” Bernthal told Entertainment Weekly. “I thought [it] would not appeal to the fans and wouldn't be congruent. It was not something I was really interested in doing. So we had to walk away."
Following a significant creative overhaul after the strikes, the series saw the appointment of Dario Scardapane as the new showrunner. It was at this point that Bernthal began to see a fitting role for Frank in Born Again. "They really brought me into the conversation," Bernthal explained, highlighting his previous collaboration with Scardapane on The Punisher series and his discussions with Marvel. "We really got specific about where Frank is psychologically, where Frank's at physically."
Warning! Spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again follow.
