Not The Punisher: Jon Bernthal Scored His Big Break With This Massive TV Hit
Welcome to The Big Break, a column where The List staff looks back at how this week's headline-grabbing star made their claim to fame.
The latest Tom Holland-led "Spider-Man" movie, which co-stars Jon Bernthal as the Marvel anti-hero Frank Castle (aka the Punisher), has been the very definition of a runaway success. It's now the second-fastest movie in history to cross $1 billion at the global box office (behind only fellow Marvel flick "Avengers: Endgame"). But while "Brand New Day" will likely be many moviegoers' first time seeing Bernthal as the Punisher, he's actually being playing the role for an entire decade as of 2026 (off and on, of course). And although Frank Castle may very well go down as Bernthal's most famous role, it actually wasn't the one that put him on the map.
In 2010 — six years before he first appeared as the Punisher on the hit Netflix series "Marvel's Daredevil," and even longer before he appeared in shows and movies like "The Bear," "The Accountant," and "Baby Driver" — Bernthal started playing what would prove to be his breakout role: Shane Walsh on AMC's "The Walking Dead." He was a main cast member during the show's first two seasons from 2010 to 2012, when "TWD" was in the process of becoming one of the most popular shows on television at the time (eventually peaking during Season 5). Despite his exit at the end of Season 2, Bernthal would later guest star in two additional episodes — one in Season 3 and another in Season 9.
'The Walking Dead' changed everything for Jon Bernthal
Jon Bernthal may have only been a part of "The Walking Dead" for a mere fraction of its 11-season run on AMC, but there's no denying that the two seasons he was there changed his career forever. The actor had previously appeared in films and TV shows like "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" and "How I Met Your Mother." However, Bernthal himself has credited his role as Shane Walsh in the world co-created by comic writer Robert Kirkman with helping him reach that next level.
"I think it was the first chance that I got an opportunity to play a character with a real beginning, middle, and end ... there were just these, sort of, touchstones that were laid out in the comic," Bernthal told GQ in July 2026. The actor went on to praise original "Walking Dead" showrunner Frank Darabont, who had previously directed the beloved film adaptation of the classic Stephen King book "The Shawshank Redemption." "I'd worked with some real masters, but I'd never been given this level of material in this big of a part," Bernthal said.
Later in the same interview, Bernthal recalled that — in a moment that is rather serendipitous in hindsight — it was actually soon-to-be Spider-Man actor Tom Holland who convinced him to take on the role of Frank Castle when the two were filming the movie "Pilgrimage" together in 2015. One season of "Daredevil," a "Punisher" spinoff series, a "Daredevil" revival, and a "Punisher" special later, and the two would ultimately reunite on the big screen as their respective Marvel heroes in 2026.