Since the 2015 Netflix series, it's hard to picture Charlie Cox's Daredevil without Jon Bernthal's Punisher. However, Bernthal recently shared why he initially declined to be part of the Disney+ revival, Daredevil: Born Again.
The actor, known for his role in The Wolf of Wall Street, explained that he was not initially excited about the creative direction planned 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,” he 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, producer Dario Scardapane was appointed as the new showrunner for the series. This change sparked Bernthal's interest in returning to the role."They really brought me into the conversation," Bernthal said about working with Scardapane, with whom he had collaborated on The Punisher series, and Marvel. "We really got specific about where Frank is psychologically, where Frank's at physically."
Warning! Spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again follow.
