THE PUNISHER Star Jon Bernthal Responds To Fans Wanting Him To Play The MCU's Wolverine

THE PUNISHER Star Jon Bernthal Responds To Fans Wanting Him To Play The MCU's Wolverine

While a lot of fans would love to see Jon Bernthal reprise his role as Frank Castle in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are just as many people who'd like to see him as Wolverine. Here's his response!

By JoshWilding - Oct 11, 2021 04:10 AM EST
Filed Under: Wolverine
Source: Forbes

Jon Bernthal first played Frank Castle in Daredevil before making the leap to his own solo series with The Punisher. That only lasted for two seasons before Netflix parted ways with Marvel Television, and while there's since been speculation about the actor reprising the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, nothing has been confirmed thus far. 

Forbes recently caught up with Bernthal to discuss a number of topics, including how much fans would like to see the actor suit up as the new Wolverine when the X-Men franchise is rebooted. 

"Look, the criteria in which I sort of decide what I'm doing next is: Does the script move me? Who am I working with? Who is the filmmaker and is that somebody I'm dying to work with? I'm going to hold onto that moving forward no matter what that is," The Punisher star explained. 

"I get it, I get that the Marvel questions, you're asking these questions because it's super important to a lot of people; people love these characters and I get that and I come to that with absolute respect. What I will tell you again is that Frank Castle is in my bones. Frank Castle is in my bones."

While he's clearly choosing his words carefully here, it sounds a lot like Bernthal is most interested in returning as The Punisher somewhere down the line. 

That's understandable given his love of the character, though we'd be shocked to see him turn down another major MCU role if Kevin Feige and company have decided to sideline Frank Castle. That's certainly feasible given the way Frank's logo has been co-opted by certain movements recently, while it could be a struggle to make this R-Rated vigilante fit into a PG-13 universe. 

Do you think Bernthal would make a better Wolverine than Punisher in the MCU? 
 

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connorblaze
connorblaze - 10/11/2021, 4:30 AM
He’d make a fantastic Wolverine, but he IS Punisher the same way Downey is Iron Man and Evans is Cap. Besides, the portrayals would be too similar.

I really wanna see a series of Punisher films with Bernthal. And have them double down on the war against crime as opposed to the military conspiracy stuff, which didnt really work for the show. He was most perfect in DD S2 taking down entire crime organizations.
Fogs
Fogs - 10/11/2021, 7:33 AM
@connorblaze - Agreed on all points, 100%. Plus make the criminals super evil if you're afraid of people crying the usual "white dude killing poor people".
mcmurray
mcmurray - 10/11/2021, 2:37 PM
@connorblaze - He's not Punisher. He PRETENDS being Punisher. He's acting. He's an actor.
Matador
Matador - 10/11/2021, 2:56 PM
@mcmurray -

Jeight8
Jeight8 - 10/11/2021, 4:37 AM
I love Jon and his portray of Castle but people who say he was accurate probably haven't read a single Garth Ennis punisher issue.

Ironically Bernthal portrayal has more in common with wolverine with the emotional outbursts and the rage than the cold and detached characterization of Castle.
Mixedsuperman
Mixedsuperman - 10/11/2021, 6:27 AM
@Jeight8 - Absolutely THIS! While the Punisher can be emotional at times, Bernthal took the humanity route with The Punishers story and played up the emotions of a man losing everything. But yes funnily enough the execution of of his portrayal is almost perfectly in sync with Wolverines emotive outbursts. So I think he means "Wolverine is in his bones" lol.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 10/11/2021, 7:27 AM
@Jeight8 - Yeah, that's a really good point. He was really good as Punisher, no doubt.

But my favorite version of Castle is Ennis' Punisher Max series. That's the quintessential Punisher for me. Bernthal was just as brutal as that version, but the difference is the Ennis version always had that stoic, calm approach, even when he was jumping out of a window and landing on Pitsy to impale him on a fence lol.

And I loved how his thoughts were narrated in all those fights. Pitsy shoots him point-blank with a shotgun and he's just like "That rib is gone. Not broken. Not shattered. Gone." And he was still just fighting away lol.

Punisher Max was awesome.
thundershocked
thundershocked - 10/11/2021, 10:09 AM
@Jeight8 - That's the problem with superhero movies. Everyone has a favorite version based of a specific story/author. Makes it almost impossible to please everyone.
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 10/11/2021, 4:41 AM
I don’t think we’ll get a Wolverine casting until after an X-men movie is already in theaters and that’s still years out.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 10/11/2021, 7:29 AM
@WruceBayne - Could be. But I don't know. I think Wolvie should have a solo movie before he's in an X-Men movie. That would help with feeling like he needs to be in the spotlight of an X-Men movie.
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 10/11/2021, 8:29 AM
@CorndogBurglar - he’s definitely going to be in the spotlight of any X-men movie he’s in. He’s going to be as important if not more important than Cyclops and I don’t like that.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 10/11/2021, 5:44 PM
@WruceBayne - Well Marvel has done Avengers movies really well. I remember when the first one came out, all the characters had almost the same amount of screen time, within like 30 seconds of each other

I'm not saying Wolverine shouldn't have spotlight, but he shouldn't have more than others.

I've said before, Wolverine should be like the X-Men's Hulk character (before they got all weird with him). He should be there, fans should like him, he should be awesome, he should have a couple scenes of him kicking ass, and they should show his personality. But anything story-wise for him should be handled through his solo films.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 10/11/2021, 4:55 AM
I'm one of those losers that really wants to see him as that canadian beast, who knows, with the Multiverse you could have all kinds of variants...
BobGarlen
BobGarlen - 10/11/2021, 5:00 AM
I'll be honest, if he was never gonna play the Punisher again, I'd love to see him as Ben Grimm/The Thing.

That being said his Punisher NEEDS to return.
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 10/11/2021, 5:15 AM
“Frank Castle is in my bones” yeah but see there’s this infusion, it’s all the rage
TheMandalorian
TheMandalorian - 10/11/2021, 5:18 AM
oh god no... we can do a lot better casting wise...
imnotwearinghockeypants
imnotwearinghockeypants - 10/11/2021, 5:23 AM
Hell no.
TheManWithoutFear
TheManWithoutFear - 10/11/2021, 5:25 AM
I think he's already a lock for being Frank again so doesn't know exactly how to answer this question.
Shroombeast
Shroombeast - 10/11/2021, 5:38 AM
I'd be fine with him playing the MCU Punisher, he did a great job. I'd be fine with most of the Netflix cast for that matter, the main exception being Iron Fist. With the whole multiverse angle maybe we could even get David Tennant back as The Purple Man. If there's one thing Marvel Television didn't [frick] up, it's the casting of the Netflix shows.
Shroombeast
Shroombeast - 10/11/2021, 5:39 AM
Of course, I'm also fine with Marvel Studios recasting all of them.
Tasmaniac
Tasmaniac - 10/11/2021, 5:48 AM
Nup. Taron Egerton for Wolverine.
Pathogen
Pathogen - 10/11/2021, 9:26 AM
@Tasmaniac - ....why.

Go away.
Tasmaniac
Tasmaniac - 10/11/2021, 1:15 PM
@Pathogen - Pathogen eh? As in a germ. Sounds about right.
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 10/11/2021, 5:54 AM
I don’t think he was a great Punisher tbh, he was imo playing Logan the entire time just without the powers.
BatNips
BatNips - 10/11/2021, 6:00 AM
There’s only one wolverine, and his name is Danny Devito
MrDandy
MrDandy - 10/11/2021, 6:24 AM
Nah. Bring him back as Punisher
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 10/11/2021, 6:26 AM
“It’s in the bone “
TheRationalNerd
TheRationalNerd - 10/11/2021, 6:38 AM
TheRationalNerd
TheRationalNerd - 10/11/2021, 6:43 AM
If Phoenix wasn't already Joker. lol



Jackraow21
Jackraow21 - 10/11/2021, 6:43 AM
I don’t see him as Wolverine at all. All I see is Frank Castle.
marvel72
marvel72 - 10/11/2021, 7:01 AM
Wolverine or The Punisher I don't mind either.

99OPTIMISTPRIME
99OPTIMISTPRIME - 10/11/2021, 7:04 AM
He'd actually be perfect for Wolverine.😂 But he was already cast as Punisher, in the MCU canon. The Netflix shows should absolutely count.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 10/11/2021, 7:34 AM
@99OPTIMISTPRIME - It really frustrates me that the Netflix shows were originally advertised as being in the MCU. So much so that Daredevil Season 1 had all kinds of clear references to the MCU.

I even remember reading an article a long time ago asking if the Netflix characters would appear in any movies, and the answer was something along the lines of "The soonest we'll see them in a movie is in the big Infinity Gauntlet crossover". This was back before they even decided that Infinity Gauntlet would be told in two parts.

Yet at some point that all stopped.
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