(Photo Credit: Marvel Studios)
Jon Bernthal will reprise his role as The Punisher in Spider-Man 4. After that, Bernthal is open to returning under one condition. Marvel should be open to it.
While speaking to Esquire recently, Bernthal opened up about his future as Frank Castle. The star said that he’d “really down” to keep working on the character, but only under one condition.
“I’m really down to keep doing more,” Bernthal said. “But I think I have to be the one that’s making it.”
Bernthal’s comments likely aren’t on accident, here. The man is letting us and Marvel know what it’ll take to keep him in the MCU as Castle. While this might be a problem for Marvel, they should be open to letting Bernthal handle the character he’s come to embody.
Marvel should let Bernthal direct his own Punisher projects
After debuting as Castle in 2016’s Daredevil, Bernthal’s joined a select few actors to fully embody his character. Much like Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Bernthal has become seen as the face of The Punisher. As Marvel Studios learned following Avengers: Endgame, replacing these characters is often harder than it appears to be, as fans have become extremely attached to certain stars playing certain roles.
Thankfully for Marvel, Bernthal seems more than open to continuing to play Castle. He seems to genuinely love the character, and better yet, does play him extremely well. While Bernthal has yet to direct his own projects, the star has written for a number of projects. Bernthal recently served as a writer for the standalone episode of The Bear, Gary, as well as the recent standalone special The Punisher: One Last Kill, both of which earned positive acclaim from critics and audiences.
Ultimately, Marvel may be hesitant to let Bernthal fully handle the character. The company seems to prefer to let stars play their roles, and it remains unclear if Bernthal will even be in MCU spin-off projects that he has no control over. However, when it comes to The Punisher projects, Marvel would be wise to not lose Bernthal, and let him continue to play the character that he’s become very good at.
