Image via Netflix
Published Nov 5, 2026, 7:02 PM EST
Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with extensive experience. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy, and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. With his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's tackled a wide variety of articles.
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Jon Bernthal is one of those actors who feels tailor-made for action. Whether it's slaughtering zombies in The Walking Dead, dispatching scores of foes in The Accountant movies, or serving in the Call of Duty franchise, Bernthal has made a career out of playing hardened killers. Yet the role most people will probably remember him for is Frank Castle, aka the Punisher. Bernthal first played Castle in Season 2 of the original Daredevil and immediately won fans over by showing that Castle's hardened exterior had layers. Soon after, Bernthal led his own spinoff series, The Punisher.
When The Punisher starts, Castle has tracked down and killed the gangsters responsible for his family's deaths. However, he struggles with nightmares about losing his family and a loss of purpose. Things start heating up when a mysterious figure named "Micro" (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) reveals that Castle's family was killed due to the fallout of a mission he undertook in Afghanistan. Castle immediately starts tracking down the men behind the conspiracy, allying himself with Micro while also trying to stay one step ahead of Homeland Security agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah).
'The Punisher' Is A Bloody, Tragic Character Study
Image via NetflixAnyone who watches The Punisher won't be surprised to learn there's plenty of bloodshed, as Castle uses his military skills and seemingly unlimited weaponry to slaughter criminals. What is surprising is the deep dive the series takes into Castle's mental state, showcasing that his war on crime is really all he has left to live for. Another tragic element is the reveal that Castle's former friend, Billy Russo (Ben Barnes), is the architect of his suffering. Marvel Comics fans will immediately recognize Russo as Jigsaw, the Punisher's heavily scarred archenemy, but Netflix's take on The Punisher fleshes him out into a compelling character—which makes his betrayal sting all the more.
This tragic element is what makes The Punisher stand out. Most people wrongly see the character as a power fantasy or write him off as a mere psychopath, but this series goes the extra mile to show that Castle's life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Years after The Punisher wrapped up its run on Netflix, Jason Aaron summed up Castle's character perfectly in the afterword to Punisher: The King of Killers — and how the Netflix series nailed that aspect.
"At the end of the day, despite the complicated nature of the character, despite the changing times and disperate viewpoints, the story of Frank Castle is fundamentally one very simple thing: a tragedy...The long, bloody tragedy of the Punisher will never be finished."
Jon Bernthal Recently Returned to the Role of The Punisher
The Punisher lasted only two seasons on Netflix before being canceled, yet many fans felt Season 2 was a step down from Season 1 because of a pair of less-than-menacing antagonists and a scattershot plot. However, it wasn't the end of Jon Berenthal's time playing the character. Bernthal would return as Castle in Daredevil: Born Again, reuniting with former Punisher writer Dario Scardapane in the process. The best was yet to come, as Bernthal also co-wrote and starred in The Punisher: One Last Kill, which hews closely to The Punisher Season 1 in terms of emotional heft and action.Bernthal also plays the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and, surprisingly, is one of the best parts of the movie. A large part of that is due to the vitriolic back-and-forth between Castle and Tom Holland's titular web-slinger, but there's also a moment that highlights Castle as being more than a lean, mean, criminal-killing machine. When he admonishes Peter Parker for choosing to stay hidden from his former girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), Castle says, "Kid, this is a sentence." That single line highlights how tortured of a character he is, and gives the kind of depth The Punisher was aiming for.
While The Punisher had its ups and downs, it's arguably worth watching to see Jon Bernthal bring one of Marvel's most complicated characters to life. The blood and violence are just the cherry on top.
Release Date 2017 - 2019-00-00
Network Netflix
Showrunner John Romita Sr.
Directors Jeremy Webb, Jim O'Hanlon, Andy Goddard, Tom Shankland, Jet Wilkinson, Dearbhla Walsh, Kari Skogland, Kevin Hooks, Michael Offer, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Stephen Kay, Stephen Surjik, Antonio Campos, Iain B. MacDonald, Meera Menon, Alex Garcia Lopez, Stacie Passon, Jamie M. Dagg
Writers Steve Lightfoot, Dario Scardapane, Felicia D. Henderson, Bruce Marshall Romans, Christine Boylan
English (US) ·