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Jon Bernthal may still be best known for playing Shane on ‘The Walking Dead’, but he’s set to headline his own series on Netflix, ‘The Punisher’ based on the Marvel Comics character.  But surprisingly the actor wasn’t initially drawn to the genre of comic book heroes (although ‘The Walking Dead’ is also based on a comic book).

The actor recently revealed that he had no interest in the comic book superhero genre until the role of Frank Castle came his way.

“I’m working on The Punisher now. You know, this whole superhero-comic-book thing is something I had zero interest in being a part of. The guys that I really, really respect as actors seem to have kind of purposely stayed away from that. I don’t mean that I’m above that or anything, just that it was not for me. But then when I got to know a little bit about this character… He ain’t got a fucking cape. He ain’t got any superpowers. He’s a fucking tortured, angry father and husband who’s living in this unbelievable world of darkness and loss and torment. Frank Castle resonates with me.”

Bernthal’s portrayal obviously resonated with fans as well, as Netflix granted ‘The Punisher’ with his own series alongside ‘Daredevil’, ‘Jessica Jones’, ‘Luke Cage’ and ‘Iron Fist’, the four series that were initially part of the Marvel/Netflix collaboration.

And many are praising Bernthal as the best live action Punisher ever, following the disappointing film versions, 2004’s ‘The Punisher’ with Thomas Jane in the lead role and 2008’s ‘Punisher: War Zone’ with Ray Stevenson.  (Of course, there was also the 1989 version, starring Dolph Lundgren.  Also not good.)

Are you excited to see Bernthal in the lead role in ‘The Punisher’?

‘The Punisher’ will debut on Netflix in early 2017.  The show also stars Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as David Lieberman, Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein, Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Paul Schulze  as Rawlins, Daniel Webber as Lewis Walcott and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page.

Source: GQ