Joseph Fournier 🇺🇦 retweetledi
Jon Bernthal quit The Punisher once. Then Marvel asked him to write it.
During the original Born Again production in 2023, Bernthal walked off set because he didn't like how Frank Castle was being written. An actor with no credited screenwriting experience looked at a Marvel paycheck and said no.
Marvel retooled the entire show. Hired Dario Scardapane from the original Punisher series as showrunner. Bernthal came back. Then during filming he pitched them a standalone special. Marvel reviewed his writing samples and told him to formally pitch it.
He co-wrote the screenplay with Reinaldo Marcus Green, who directed King Richard. It runs 60 minutes, the longest Marvel Special Presentation ever. It carries a TV-MA rating. He's also an executive producer. First credited writing work of his career.
The line he gave in interviews: "I didn't want them to just hand it to me. They've held me accountable to every step along the way."
That's three MCU projects in one year. Born Again. One Last Kill. Spider-Man: Brand New Day. He filmed the Punisher special and then walked directly onto the Spider-Man set and told Tom Holland and the director the character had to feel the same across both.
The actor who had zero leverage in 2019 when Netflix canceled him now has more creative control over a Marvel character than almost any actor in the MCU's history. He got it by being willing to lose the role twice.
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The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026)
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