Jon Bernthal is the Punisher Marvel deserves

Daredevil’s second season has already been devoured by diehards, and some of the biggest praise (outside of THAT fight scene) has been handed out to Bernthal. While unseen throughout most of the first episode, his presence is felt—he singlehandedly takes out a crew without anyone catching a glimpse of him. And when he does finally hit the scene, he’s pure menace: One grizzled war vet, walking cool, calm, and collected through a hospital war, shottie in hand. Then when Bernthal’s Castle and Daredevil finally meet in an epic rooftop battle, it’s a beautiful struggle, a symphony of violence, martial arts versus a pump-action shotgun. If that wasn’t enough to convince you that Bernthal was the perfect Punisher, he seals the deal a few episodes later in a subtler way, with a stunning speech in which Castle explains how and why he became the Punisher.

We caught up with Bernthal not too long before the premiere of season two of Daredevil to discuss how well he connected to the role of Frank Castle, and what it was like acclimating himself in to Marvel’s world.