The Punisher Villain Ben Barnes Wants to Play a Hero (Exclusive)

Around these corners of the internet, you likely know Ben Barnes as the go-to actor for any film or series looking for a top-shelf villain. Within the past few years alone, his role as General Kirigan in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone and Logan Delos in Westworld have been enough for watchers to rage against the respective properties. Taking those roles, combining them with the fact he played Billy Russo/Jigsaw in both seasons of The Punisher, and Barnes tells us he’s ready to play a hero now.

“I’ve spent the last five or six years playing people with questionable morality, questionable motives, and people who are downright evil who are very high up on the douchebag chart. I would like to take what I’ve learned from doing that and channel it into someone you’re rooting for, if I came back at Marvel if there was room for me,” Barnes tells ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian in a chat supporting Netflix’s Cabinet of Curiosities. “I’m a huge fan and huge consumer of all the shows and movies and so proud of all those people like Charlie Cox who’ve become the ultimate version of the characters they’re playing. In the meantime, I’m just going to be a fan.”

Is The Punisher coming back to the MCU?

While the Jon Bernthal-starring series was included in the batch of DefendersVerse shows that were added to Disney+, there’s no indication whether or not The Punisher himself will soon make his way back to the beloved franchise. That said, Barnes adds he’d absolutely be willing to reprise his Jigsaw role if storytellers found a way to make it work.

“I loved playing that character. Discovering this abused child inside of this psychopathic, unhinged, scarred Marine body. I loved how unpredictbale he was in terms of you know if he’s going to stab you or kiss you,” Barnes adds. “I loved playing that character for that reason, so that was fun. I loved working with Jon [Bernthal], so I’d love to play the character again. I’d love to see a more gnarly version of him, even in terms of the way he looks. Maybe we can beat him up again, maybe we can smash his face into something again, but I think he’s pretty dead in the canon. We tied up that story in such a satisfying way, so I don’t hold out a lot of hope for that.”

Cabinet of Curiosities is now streaming on Netflix while both seasons of The Punisher are now streaming on Disney+. What hero would you like to see Barnes play? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!