Bernthal (pictured) first played the grieving father-turned-vigilante in the Netflix version of Marvel's Daredevil, where he debuted the character during the second season of 2016. He then starred in his own series for Netflix and played the titular character for two seasons of The Punisher, which ran from 2017 to 2019.
News of the Punisher special marks The Walking Dead's Bernthal, who continues to work with Marvel.
In September 2023, Daredevil: Born Again hit the reset button and the planned eighteen-episode series was revised after earlier footage failed to meet Marvel Studios' expectations. Speaking at the premiere of Daredevil: Born Again on Monday night, Charlie Cox praised the work done: "One of the most amazing things about working for this company was their ability to look at what we were making, listen to the things Vince [D'Onofrio] and I had to say about it and pivot; to decide you know what, this isn't quite the right direction and we know how we can change it and make it better."
In a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bernthal talked about the character's debut and what it meant for Marvel Comics fans. He introduced the iconic comic book character in the season two premiere of Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix. When Hell's Kitchen becomes ground zero for what appears to be an army waging war against gangs with military-grade firepower, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) soon discovers that it's really just one man seeking a personal vendetta. In the opener, Matt suits up as Daredevil to find and take down the man who nicknamed the town the Punisher, but he soon discovers he may have met his match.
“The Punisher means so much to so many people, and it lives in so many different people’s heads, so they care about it so much,” he said. “That’s huge to me, and I understand it. I’m familiar with the comic book audience from my time on The Walking Dead: They’re very intelligent, loyal and passionate. This character also resonates deeply with law enforcement and military. People go into battle for our country with the Punisher logo on their equipment, their body armor, their vehicles, and they die for their country with that logo on them.”
