Jon Bernthal Says THE PUNISHER Will Be The Darkest and Most Brutal Part of The MCU

Just in case you aren't excited enough about Netflix's upcoming Marvel series The Punisher, Jon Bernthal is here to throw some hype at your face. During a recent interview with EW, the actor opened up about the series and said it's going to be the darkest and most brutal part of the MCU. That's not really surprising, as we are talking about The Punisher here. 

When comparing the Punisher of the upcoming solo series to the Punisher of Daredevil Season 2, he says:

"The Frank Castle you see in Daredevil is reeling from the trauma of having his family killed, so the only thing he knows is his mission to kill every single person who’s responsible for his family’s death, and killing them in the most brutal way possible, because that’s the only way to quiet the storm that’s in his head. He can only quiet it momentarily by taking these people out.

"He’s a man on a mission again [in The Punisher], and what [Punisher showrunner and Hannibal alum Steve] Lightfoot is trying to do is ask the question 'What do you do when that’s over? What do you find out about yourself when you realize there’s nothing left? What is his purpose?' There’s an introspective bent in trying to figure that out. He finds something to fight for, something new to believe in."

This sets the dark mood of the series and gives you a sense of what is going on in the characters head. He's tortured, and that torture will apparently lead to the darkest of dark Marvel stories in the MCU. Bernthal explains: 

"This season is much darker as it goes, it gets darker and darker and more visceral. The show takes you on this journey of Frank becoming more and more human again and then shutting off and shutting off and going back to what works for him, and the place where he kind of belongs, and I think that’s a place of solitude and of darkness and destruction. It’s going to get into as dark and as brutal a place as you’ve ever seen in the Marvel world, I can promise you that."

Sounds like it's going to be an amazingly awesome series that will depress the hell out of us. One thing is for sure, audiences are going to need to buckle up because this is going to be a wild ride!

The actor explained that he put a lot into preparing for the role of Frank Castle and that in the process he wanted to make sure he was being respectful to the military community, and those who suffer from the long-term mental consequences of war.  

I'm looking forward to seeing how this character unravels in the series. This is such a complicated, dark and emotional character, and it sounds like Bernthal and the team behind the series are handling him with care.