Jon Bernthal, known for his portrayal of Frank Castle, The Punisher, since 2016 in Marvel's Netflix series, is set to appear in his first Marvel movie, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." The actor described the experience of working on a major film production as a "shock" and highlighted the vast differences compared to his decade of work in Marvel TV.
"Oh, man, it's just completely different," Bernthal told Polygon. "These guys really have the expertise. Not that the expertise isn't there in Marvel TV, but the space, the bandwidth, the budget. Anything is possible. I was blown away every day walking onto those sets."
Bernthal explained that Marvel TV productions often attempt to achieve movie-level action on a more constrained budget and timeframe. "When you're shooting Marvel TV, we're attempting movie-level action on a TV budget and timeframe," he stated. "So it is go, go, go. You do not have time. You have to make it work."
In contrast, the film set for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" allowed for more flexibility. "What I loved about this is, it was the same intensity, the same dedication to making this great, the same fervor to get it right, but with the bandwidth to really do it," Bernthal said. He specifically credited the film's star Tom Holland, director Destin Daniel Cretton, and producer Amy Pascal for their willingness to pause production to refine scenes.
"There were so many times we stopped and just slowed everything down to make the scenes work," Bernthal recalled. "It's a real testament to Tom and Destin and Amy, and to everybody there."
Beyond the production differences, Bernthal also expressed his long-standing desire to collaborate with Tom Holland's Spider-Man. "Whenever I'm asked by journalists or by fans: 'Who's sort of the one superhero you…?' I always say Spider-Man. Because I love Tom. I love what he's built. I love who he is."
"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is scheduled to premiere in theaters on July 31.