After the huge splash season one of Marvel and Netflix’s “Daredevil” made in fandom, anticipation was already at an all-time high for the blind superhero’s next outing. The studios upped the ante when they announced that not only would Jon Bernthal be joining the mix as The Punisher—a no-nonsense, bloodthirsty vigilante—but that the character would be playing a pivotal role in the season. In fact, Marco Ramirez, one of the co-showrunners of the season, went so far as to refer to the season as “Daredevil vs. The Punisher.”

Punisher fans are undoubtedly thrilled. With the series being handled with such care by the filmmakers, we may finally see a screenworthy version of the character–one who’s already had two failed attempts at a big-screen adaptation. Since the announcement, we’ve seen a couple of shots of the man on set, but nothing much in the action department. Now, thanks to the folks over at Just Jared, we get to see Bernthal kicking ass on the “Daredevil” set.

To see the rest of the photos, click here!

The first thing I noticed was how fitting Bernthal was in the role. From the man’s physique to his hard-boiled face, he’s definitely one of the best men you could’ve cast as The Punisher (Frank Grillo would be another worthy choice, but he’s already making his mark in the MCU as Crossbones). The fact that the man can actually act, too, is obviously another plus.

Of course, perhaps one of the biggest reveals in this photo is Frank Castle’s lack of a skull T-shirt. As the character’s trademark symbol, it would seem to be quite the mistake to leave out something so iconic. This is, after all, a symbol that strikes fear in The Punisher’s enemies, so why leave it out?

We have to remember that nothing is unearned these days. We can’t expect Frank Castle to just show up one day in his skull shirt. What fun would that be to have an unmotivated character arc like that? It took Daredevil until the end of season one to don his trademark red suit (though many now prefer his black outfit to the red suit), so who’s to say that The Punisher won’t have a similar sort of evolution?

That being said, there’s still a part of me that fears his trademark outfit will never come. In the interest of making things grounded and believable, I worry that Marvel will plan to nix the costume altogether. Luckily, given the studio’s track record, I doubt that my concern is founded in anything but paranoia.

What do you think? Did you like how Bernthal looked in action, and at what point do you expect to see him in his true comic book attire?

SOURCE: Just Jared