Punisher’s Ben Barnes Was Almost Cast In Falcon & Winter Soldier

The Punisher‘s Ben Barnes, known for playing the smooth yet menacing villain in the Netflix series, nearly returned to the Marvel milieu in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The actor landed his first major role as Prince Caspian in the 2008 installment of The Chronicles of Narnia and reprised the role two years later in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This led to roles in shows like Logan in HBO’s Westworld and Billy Russo in Netflix’s The Punisher, though he missed out on Marvel’s latest series.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has been another unexpected change of pace for Marvel after WandaVision concluded in early March. The Disney+ series kicked off with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) giving up the iconic vibranium shield and the U.S. government replacing Steve Rogers’ Captain America with John Walker (Wyatt Russell) by the end of the first episode. Episode 2 then pitted the show’s titular duo against Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kelleyman) and the Flag-Smashers. Since then, Falcon and the Winter Soldier has upped the ante with each episode.

During a Q&A session with Rotten Tomatoes, Barnes revealed he was almost cast in Falcon and the Winter Soldier opposite Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Barnes was approached by Kari Skogland, who has directed every episode of the Marvel series, about a role in the show, but it conflicted with the filming of Shadow and Bone. Here is what Barnes said about nearly returning to Marvel, per Collider:

Kari Skogland, who’s directing every episode of Falcon and Winter Soldier, directed every episode of a miniseries I did called Sons of Liberty where I played Sam Adams… And she actually messaged me saying she was doing Winter Soldier and that there might be a character for me in it. And I was just about to do Shadow and Bone so I didn’t even know what it might be, and I still don’t know really.

With only one episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier left to go, the globe-trotting series has introduced plenty of compelling new characters, while also bringing back some characters from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, such as Sam, Bucky, Daniel Brühl’s Baron Zemo, and Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter. According to Barnes, he was almost a part of this group. Since there is debate whether or not Marvel’s Netflix shows fall under the MCU umbrella, it is unlikely Barnes would have reprised his role as Billy Russo/Jigsaw from The Punisher.

Marvel has not really crossed over with its Netflix show before, so Barnes probably would have instead played one of Karli Morgenthau’s Flag-Smashers if he was cast in the Disney+ series. While Barnes will not be seen in the season finale of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he can be seen in Netflix’s new fantasy series Shadow and Bone as General Kerrigan, when it airs on April 23rd.

Source: Collider

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Adam Bentz
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Adam Bentz is a movie and TV news writer for Screen Rant. From a young age, Adam has been interested in a wide range of movies and television, but it was talented auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Aaron Sorkin who ultimately sparked his interest in the craft. Motivated by his love for the screen, Adam studied creative writing with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University.

After graduating, Adam interned as a writer with The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organization working to end extreme poverty. Other than writing for Screen Rant, Adam reviews films on his website adambentz.wordpress.com

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