Today is the last day of NYCC 2016. The New York-based fan convention featured a ton of great panels, shocking reveals, exclusive first-looks, and awesome celebrities. Jon Bernthal, of The Walking Dead and season 2 of Daredevil, made a surprise appearance at the Iron Fist panel yesterday. After shocking the crowd there, Bernthal returned today for his very own panel.
The Jon Bernthal panel put the spotlight on the actor himself, focusing on his acting career, and his role as Frank Castle/The Punisher. Obviously, Bernthal wasn’t allowed to get into too much detail about his character, or the upcoming Punisher series, he discuss a few things related to his Marvel gig.
One of the first Punisher related things to come up was the morality of the character. Frank Castle exists in a morally gray area, a fact that puts him in conflict with do-gooder and bad guys alike. When asked if he considers Punisher more of a hero or villain during the panel, Bernthal explained that it isn’t that simple:
“I don’t really look at that hero or villain thing. There’s no way that I could begin to even try to understand this man or play this part if I wasn’t a father or a husband…I wouldn’t judge anybody in Frank’s situation. It’s not about good or bad, it’s about punishment.”
The moral complexity of the Punisher is what makes him such an interesting character. He essentially does what every other superhero does, he takes the law into his own hands and deals out punishment to those he deems guilty. The only difference is that he takes it a bit farther than others. His willingness to kill is what puts him at odds with heroes like Daredevil, who believe that not killing is what separates heroes from criminals.
What do you think? Is the Punisher a hero or a villain? Or is he neither? Sound off in the comments below!