Ever since the news broke that Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, American Gigolo, The Wolf of Wall Street) will be reprising his role as The Punisher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe project Daredevil: Born Again, fans have been wondering what other live-action heroes from previous shows outside of the MCU will be joining the universe. According to ScreenRant, a social media post revealed that actor Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea, Before I Wake, The Mist) who also portrayed The Punisher a decade before, crossed Bernthal’s path causing speculation of duel Punishers on screen.
The actors were allegedly working on tactical training for Daredevil: Born Again, naturally going through the superhero-like routine after years of practice and experience. The two then took a photo op posted by Taran Tactical Innovations on Instagram, showing the two anti-hero actors happily grinning to be in the vast multiverse. The post also says, ” There are 3 Multiverse Spidermen, 2 Batmans, at @tarantactical Who wants to see the training day videos?”
Jane’s role in the 2004 movie The Punisher seeks vengeance for the unjust slaughter of his entire family against highball criminal Howard Saint, portrayed by John Travolta (Pulp Fiction, Grease, Saturday Night Fever). Four years later, the creative team, excluding Jane, created a sequel or reboot labeled Punisher: War Zone with a replacement for the title character played by Ray Stevenson (Kill the Irishman, The Transporter Refueled, RRR) before the rights for the character were supposed to transfer from Sony Pictures back to Marvel Studios. However, Jane did return as the title character in 2012 for the short fan film Punisher: Dirty Laundry which was self-produced claiming it was a “love letter to Frank Castle & his fans,” showing a particular fondness and passion for the ex-military vigilante role.
Jon Bernthal has been confirmed to reprise his role as Frank Castle from season two of the original Netflix series Daredevil debuting in 2015, and the solo spin-off show, Punisher, debuting in 2017 for two complete seasons. The new series Daredevil: Born Again, which is currently in production, follows Matt Murdock, a blind attorney that fights the mean streets of Hell’s Kitchen from the shadows played by Charlie Cox (The Defenders, Treason, Stardust). Cox has already appeared in a number of MCU projects such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
With the ever-extending trend of Hollywood actors reprising old roles, like Micheal Keaton (The Founder, Birdman, Beetlejuice) playing Batman again in the upcoming film The Flash, it’s very likely that Jane could come back to the screen playing The Punisher once again.