Jon Bernthal was out promoting his next film ‘Pilgrimage’ and talked to Movie Phone about what makes Frank Castle, the brutality of the series, and what separates the Punisher from rest of Marvel’s heroes.
‘The Punisher’on Netflix will be the first time Marvel attempts to interpret an anti-hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it appears that Bernthal understands that.
“I think that my big struggle with him is that one of my biggest kind of things that I’m always fighting for on set is, I always want to preserve the essence of Frank, and have the right and be bold enough to really turn my back on the audience, and not do things to win the audience’s favor, but rather stay true to the character and the essence of who he is,” said Bernthal to Movie Phone.
The MCU on Netflix has had its share of blood, especially when the Punisher is involved. Now that the character has his own series expect a more intimate look at violence.
“I think Frank is brutal. Frank is damaged. Frank is tortured. I think Frank, when he engages in violence, there’s something utterly satisfying and addictive for him to be doing that, and that may not be something that the audience can agree with or get behind. But I’ve always fought to preserve that, and I think that that’s a part of him. I think the pain and what’s behind the violence and the reason why he’s committing the violence, that’s a different story. I want to explore that, too,” said Bernthal to Movie Phone.
Bernthal continues to say all the right things when it comes to the comic book version of the character. It will be interesting to see if Netflix can pull it off cinematically.
“So I think that’s the real challenge: being bold enough to not make him too heroic, at least “heroic,” is important to me. That being said, I think there’s Frank Castle inside of everybody. I think being a father and being a husband, he’s a character that I deeply empathize with,” said Bernthal to Movie Phone.
Where is your excitement level for this series? Do you want to see ‘The Punisher’ far removed from ‘The Defender’ so the show is more grounded? Comment below.
