The sky seems to be the limit for the partnership between Marvel Studios and Netflix. One year ago, the gritty heroes of the MCU got a new sandbox to play in with Netflix, which allows for an unprecedented level of creative freedom. Both Daredevil and Jessica Jones’ series debuted in 2015 and a third is on the way with Luke Cage this fall. Iron Fist is currently casting (read about it in our exclusive scoop here) and preparing for the big stage as well. However, there is one character who will be making his debut in the second season of Daredevil, who’s future may be the most interesting of all of the players.
According to a report from TV Line, The Punisher has his own series in development for Netflix behind the scenes, thanks to Jon Bernthal’s (Fury, The Walking Dead) performance in the second season of Daredevil. The producers were apparently so impressed, that talks of giving him his own spin-off series started almost immediately. It’s also noteworthy considering that the audience haven’t even gotten the opportunity to see him portray the character yet. If they have that much faith in him, this upcoming season of Daredevil is definitely going to be unforgettable.
Jon Bernthal recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly and explained that he’s taking the character of Frank Castle to some very dark places. He also revealed that he was a fan of the first season and totally understands how beloved The Punisher is with Marvel fans.
“It’s an important character, it’s one I’m honored to play. This is a guy who means a lot to a lot of people and his character has resonate with law enforcement and military. People have been coming up to me on the streets of New York saying, ‘Do not mess this up.'”
Well, if the rumors are true that he has his own spin-off series in development, he must have done something right with his performance in Daredevil.
Bernthal also talked about the “emptiness” of the character and how this is driving his ruthless war on crime. Thinking about what he might do if his own family were taken away from him, the actor had to place himself “in as dark of a place as possible the last six months.” While it’s unclear if he went completely method with his acting. Bernthal managed to find the nuances of the character by walking himself to set across the Brooklyn Bridge and by keeping himself isolated as much as possible.
The impressive action and fight sequences we got to see in the first season of Daredevil, will be present this second time around, with Bernthal praising the “movie-quality fights.” We should expect no less when you’ve got a character like The Punisher causing some mayhem. However, it sounds like we won’t be seeing Frank Castle fully formed from the first episode. Bernthal explains ” this character develops into what he becomes, he becomes more violent and more raw.” While we’ll definitely be rooting him on as he takes out scum, he’s going to be challenging the audience in terms of who he chooses to execute and how he goes about doing it. That is the nature of an antihero and that’s something Bernthal looks forward to.
“One of the things I’m most excited for is I’m hoping the audience will go back and forth. There are things you can identify with and get behind,and there are things when the character pushes it and you can’t get behind him anymore.”
The second season of Daredevil has the chance to be better than the first, which is painfully exciting considering the groundbreaking success that was achieved. All signs are pointing to a more in-depth exploration of vigilantism than we have ever gotten before. Bring it on.
The entire second season of Daredevil drops on March 18th, 2016.
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