Jon Bernthal Is Unsure If Punisher Can Work In The PG-13 MCU

Despite being open in the past to reprising his role as The Punisher, Jon Bernthal is unsure how the character can work properly in a PG-13 story.

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The Punisher star, Jon Bernthal, has doubts that the character could work in the more PG-13 side of the MCU films and television material. Bernthal has had a very busy year, having appeared in five films in 2021 alone (Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Many Saints of Newark, King Richard, Small Engine Repair, and The Unforgivable) and he is also set to be the lead in the upcoming Showtime series, American Gigolo. While the actor has an extensive resume, to many fans, one of his most famous roles is that of Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher in the Netflix series Daredevil and his own title series, which ran for two seasons.

Rumors have been circulating for months about various characters from the canceled Netflix series appearing in upcoming MCU projects, from Charlie Cox rumored to reprise his role as Matt Murdock, a.k.a. Daredevil in Spider-Man: No Way Home to Vincent D’Onofrio reprising his role as Kingpin in Hawkeye, although nothing has officially come of it. The Punisher is a Marvel fan-favorite, having been the star of three separate feature films and a staple in multiple Marvel comics, including crossover events like Civil War and the Marvel Now! relaunch of The Thunderbolts. Many have hoped that Bernthal would reprise his role as The Punisher in the MCU when the time came, and the actor has admitted to being open to it in the past.

However, in a recent interview with THR, Bernthal changed his tune somewhat about reprising his role as The Punisher. While he would still like to, and holds a great deal of respect for the character, he is unsure if the character can work properly in a non-R-rated environment. He addressed the dark nature of the character and said he does not want to do a disservice to the character, given how important he is to veterans. Bernthal said:

“That character, in particular, has real, real, real deep, deep meaning for me and resonance in me. He’s really in my heart, man. He’s really in my bones. I’m enormously protective of that character. I’ve said before that there’s nothing in this world more important to me than my wife and my kids, and only until you understand that kind of love and understand what it really means to willingly die for somebody, and what it would be like if somebody took them from you. That’s a road and a darkness and a rage that really, really scares me and brings me to places that I’ve worked the last 20 years to get away from. So I was really grateful, respectful and weary of the places where that role took me and the world in which I had to live in. That being said, that’s where that character needs to be. It needs to be a level of darkness. I think if there’s any let up on that character, you do a disservice to the character, to every iteration of the character, to every comic book that’s come before, and to all of the unbelievable fans of the character. This character means so much to people in the military. So like I said before, it’s not about whether you do the character; it’s about whether you can do it right, and I’m only interested in doing it right.”

While The Punisher tends to be featured in heavy R-rated stories, from his MAX comics to his feature films, the character has still been featured in more broad terms. He made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 and was just another comic book hitman/assassin. The character appeared in the ’90s Spider-Man: The Animated Series and the kid-centric The Super Hero Squad Show, and both times, he was given non-lethal weapons and energy-based pistols. In recent years, the MCU has gone to some darker places, specifically in the television series like Jon Walker’s brutal murder of a Flag-Smasher in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

The other elephant in the room is whether the MCU has a place for a character like The Punisher. In recent years, The Punisher skull has become a controversial image, given that it has been used by police officers who many feel should not be admiring a character like The Punisher. Even The Punisher’s co-creator, Gerry Conway, hit back at police officers who use The Punisher skull. Combine that with the fact that The Punisher uses heavy firearms, and the conversation around gun laws is a continuous one. The first season of Netflix’s The Punisher was delayed due to the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. While The Punisher may be a popular character, there is no rush for him to join the MCU or even a need for him at the moment.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/punisher-jon-bernthal-mcu-possibility-rating-response/