Now that Netflix has put the kibosh on The Punisher TV series, there remain many True Believers out there who hope they haven’t seen the last of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle. Though it’s possible we may see him reprise the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe one day, guarantees of this sort can never be made.
Still, there’s another option for Bernthal to continue on as the anti-hero, and that’s through the medium of video games. After all, he’s got a starring gig in Ghost Recon Breakpoint. And when it comes to Frank Castle himself, he’s appeared in team-up games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, but he’s also headlined some titles of his own, most notably The Punisher (2005) and The Punisher: No Mercy (2009).
Taking all that into account, Bernthal was asked if he’d be down for voicing Castle in such an endeavor, and here’s how he responded:
“You know … I don’t know. Frank Castle, he’s enormously important to me. Getting him right is enormously important to me. So, for that, I’m not really interested in whether we would do something. I’m interested in how it would be done, and I just want to sort of protect him and protect my vision for him.
“For me and Frank Castle, it’s never about whether we do, it’s about whether we’d do it right.”
You know, I have to agree with him in several respects. Not only must the character of Frank Castle be handled right, but it’s my hope that any possible project actually be a good game to begin with. I’m sure Bernthal doesn’t want to put his name on a piece of crap and simply collect a paycheck.
Though I never got to play No Mercy, I quite enjoyed The Punisher game released in 2005. Thomas Jane, star of the 2004 flick of the same name, returned for voiceover duties in that one. And while the game did contradict the movie at certain points, it could be viewed as a sequel in a variety of ways because it did pick up on various plot threads. That said, a loose followup to the Netflix series would definitely be a welcome addition.