The Walking Dead alumni Jon Bernthal was tapped by Netflix to play as the U.S. military war veteran and martial arts master Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, on season 2 of Marvel's Daredevil series, which stars Charlie Cox, reported the Hollywood Reporter.
Bernthal, who played the character of officer Shane Walsh on AMC's zombie drama the Walking Dead for two seasons opposite Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes), will be taking on a significant role on Daredevil as the favorite vigilante, The Punisher, who uses his expertise on a variety of weapons and guerilla warfare to clean New York's Hell's Kitchen from all the bad elements using any means at his disposal, often resulting to high number of casualties.
Marvel head of TV Jeph Loeb commented on the choice of Bernthal as the new Punisher, "Jon Bernthal brings an unmatched intensity to every role he takes on, with a potent blend of power, motivation and vulnerability that will connect with audiences. Castle's appearance will bring dramatic changes to the world of Matt Murdock and nothing will be the same."
According to the report, Bernthal's character will have a "big presence" on Daredevil's Season 2. The next season of Daredevil will premiere on 2016.
Bernthal is also known for his roles on TNT's Mob City, Wolf of Wall Street and Fury.
Last month, Marvel announced Rosario Dawson would reprise her role as Claire Temple, aka Night Nurse in Season 2 of Daredevil. It was also announced that Dawson signed a larger exclusive TV deal which will allow her to appear in Marvel's other Netflix series.
"After working with Rosario in the first season, we knew instantly that we had to have her back for our second," said Executive Producer/Head of Marvel TV Jeph Loeb. "Claire Temple proved a fan favorite in Season 1, and we can't wait for fans to see all the plans we have for her next."
Marvel is starting a darker "Netflix-verse" that will consist of four individual shows that will combine to a mini series known as Defenders. In addition to Daredevil being the first character in the super-team, the other characters who will have their own shows are AKA Jessica (coming to Netflix later this year), Luke Cage (coming in 2016), and Iron Fist (TBD).
