Rosario Dawson retracts her remarks about Jon Bernthal's Punisher making a comeback, jokingly acknowledging that she "can't be trusted."
Rosario Dawson is retracting her statements that Jon Bernthal's Punisher will return, even if there is still room for the characters to return. In season two of Daredevil, Bernthal made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Frank Castle, a former Marine who is on a deadly mission for vengeance after his family was murdered by gang members. As the latter tries to persuade him that murdering isn't the solution while the former thinks it's the only way to fight crime, Castle and Charlie Cox's Daredevil first find themselves on opposing sides.
The Punisher, a Netflix original series starring Bernthal, saw him come out of retirement from his role as a vigilante after discovering a broader plot behind the murder of his family and a puzzle involving the attempted murder of vagrant Amy Bendix. The show has two seasons on the streaming service and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics who complimented Bernthal and Ben Barnes' acting and the action scenes, but had conflicting feelings about the plot, the writing, and the too violent scenes. The Punisher was canceled as part of the merger of Marvel Television and Marvel Studios, leaving Bernthal's involvement in the MCU uncertain. Although viewers appeared to receive good news over the weekend, it appears to have been short-lived.
In response to her remarks at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, Rosario Dawson responded to the Punisher backlash on Twitter. The MCU star recanted her earlier declaration, saying that she "can't be trusted" and "gets excited."
Dawson previously stated her delight at Bernthal's probable Punisher comeback because, despite having played Claire Temple/Night Nurse in the rest of Netflix's MCU cast, she was never given the chance to appear in the series. Given her connection to the series, it makes sense that she would be privy to such information, but given that Marvel Studios is also notoriously coy about disclosing its plans, some may wonder if her claims regarding Bernthal's Punisher returning are accurate or if she was misinformed. According to Dawson's post above, she likely learned of The Punisher's comeback through a fan rather than from her genuine Marvel contacts.
Although Dawson appears to be retracting her remarks regarding Bernthal's Punisher appearing again, it's still possible that the actor may soon make a comeback in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fellow Netflix veterans Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio recently made appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye, and they have more Netflix projects coming up, including She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Echo, in which Daredevil is rumored to be looking for Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, and the Disney+ Daredevil revival titled Born Again. It is therefore possible that the studio has plans for Bernthal's Frank Castle to make an appearance. Viewers may relive his MCU reign right now on Disney+ while they wait for more information on that front.