Jon Bernthal Joins Edgar Wright's 'Baby Driver', But No Punisher Spinoff Is In The Works Yet

There have been many stars whose characters were killed off of AMC's The Walking Dead, but none have capitalized on the show's popularity better than Jon Bernthal. The tough-guy actor has been busy on the big and small screen, appearing in everything from The Wolf of Wall Street to Fury to HBO's Show Me a Hero. And of course, he'll be joining the second season of Marvel's Daredevil as The Punisher, a role many think will lead to an eventual spinoff. There's now an update on whether or not that will happen, but there's also news about Bernthal's next major film role.

Bernthal is the latest to join Baby Driver, the long-in-the-works chase film from Edgar Wright. Ansel Elgort stars as Baby, a near-mute getaway driver with an ear condition who uses the beat of his own personal soundtrack. After a doomed heist, Baby must go on the run from a crime boss threatening his life, love, and freedom. Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Lily James, and Eiza Gonzalez co-star, with filming already underway. 

And while that's another potentially big role for Bernthal, it appears the chances of a Punisher series just went up in gun smoke. Rumors of a show based on the violent anti-hero have been circulating for months, with Netflix appearing to be close to a deal just last month. But now Marvel's TV chief Jeph Loeb tells Digital Spy it isn't in the cards....yet.

“I think that’s something that people are speculating on, as opposed to something that’s actually happening. It’s certainly our hope that any of our characters will be embraced and that people want to see more of them.”

There's probably still a good chance it happens, but not for a while yet. Let's see how the fans respond to Bernthal version of The Punisher when Daredevil returns on March 18th.