MOVIE NEWS – Rumours of Jon Bernthal’s return to Marvel as The Punisher are not new, but Spider-Man: There’s No Going Home, recent speculation has been swirling.

Jon Bernthal is rumoured to be in talks to join the MCU as The Punisher. At least, that’s what the rumours suggest, rumours that have been making the film rounds before and are now being reignited by recent events in the MCU. While fans have previously indicated that Bernthal should return to the character, this time, it seems that Marvel itself is on the hunt for him to star in one of the yet-to-be-announced new Spider-Man movies, as well as a solo project sometime in the future.

It should be stressed that this is only a rumour at the moment and seems to be based on a lot of things. First, there’s Bernthal’s comment that unless they do the character right and he comes in some “watered down” version, he’s not interested in returning, but in 2018 he said he’d love to star with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man after the pair worked together on Pilgrimage. He said at the time:

“I’m in love with Tom Holland, you know what I mean? That’s my dude.”

“For me, it’s not about… I have no aspirations or desire to do anything besides what I’m doing. I love this character. I believe in him. He’s in my bones. I feel honored to play him, and I want to keep playing him. So in all honesty, there’s no part of me that says, ‘Oh, I hope I’m in the movies.’ It’s whatever it’ll be. That being said, there’s one character and one actor that I just have the utmost respect for in the Marvel Universe and without a question it’s Tom.”

However, the biggest obstacle to this happening is that it’s very likely that any Spider-Man collaboration would have to be rated PG-13, and Bernthal doesn’t want that. He spoke to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month:

“I think if there’s any let up on that character, you do a disservice to the character, to every iteration of the character, to every comic book that’s come before, and to all of the unbelievable fans of the character. This character means so much to people in the military. So like I said before, it’s not about whether you do the character; it’s about whether you can do it right, and I’m only interested in doing it right.”

That being said, it appears that Disney and Marvel Studios are considering some of the darker and more adult characters in the Marvel Universe, as Deadpool could also be making his MCU debut soon in an R-rated format. Given that Netflix’s Marvel television universe has always treaded on the darker side of the comic book world and now seems to be canon in the MCU – at least as far as the Daredevil series is concerned – this could be a good sign for those hoping to see Bernthal return as Frank Castle at some point in the future.

Source: CinemasComics