IfNintendodecides to make aPunch-Outmovie,Jon Bernthalwants to play Little Mac. Speaking with Digital Trends Live on Thursday, Bernthal was asked which video game character he would like to play in a movie or TV adaptation. With every video game in history to choose from, Bernthal expressed his desire to play Little Mac, noting he has recently revisited the classic NES game with his children. “What I’ve been playing with the kids isMike Tyson’s Punch-Out,” Bernthal said. He adds: “Little Mac, he’s really small, but that would be really cool I think - his rise up through the ranks.”
As a big fan of80s video games, there are also some other possibilities Bernthal would be interested in. The actor admits he would love to appear in a hypothetical movie based onCastlevania, as he “really dug” the original game. An animated adaptation ofCastlevaniahas already been produced for Netflix with two seasons streaming so far, but Bernthal made it clear his name is in the hat if anyone wants to make a live-action movie based on the retro title. “I’m old-school, I’m probably aging myself here, that’s sort of the limits of my video game knowledge,” Bernthal explains, noting he’s also a huge fan of the classic arcade gameGalaga.
Originally titledPunch-Outand released on the Arcade, the game was given the titleMike Tyson’s Punch-Outwhen the famous boxer was added to the NES version in 1987. In the game, players control the underdog boxer known as Little Mac as he takes on a variety of whimsical characters. Of course, Tyson served as the final boss of the game, and defeating him was extremely difficult. While Little Mac wouldn’t be featured in the Super Nintendo sequelSuper Punch Out, he returned in 2007 as the playable character in the Nintendo Wii remake of the original game. More recently, he has appeared as a playable fighter in theSuper Smash Bros.video game series.
Bernthal is of course very well known for his role as Shane Walsh in the first two seasons of the AMC zombie dramaThe Walking Dead. He has made occasional cameo appearances to reprise the role, and even eight seasons past the character’s death, Shane remains one of the show’s most memorable characters. After departing the series, Bernthal entered the MCU as Frank Castle, the anti-hero better known as The Punisher. First appearing inMarvel’s Daredevil, Bernthal reprised the role in his own spin-off series which spanned for two seasons. More recently, Bernthal appears in the new video gameGhost Recon Breakpointas the villainous character Cole Walker, a former Ghost operative heading his own military force called the “Wolves.”
We probably won’t be seeing aPunch-Outmovie hitting theaters anytime soon, but picturing Bernthal duking it out with King Hippo in a boxing ring is certainly fun to envision. Perhaps the movie could also bring in Mike Tyson to play himself. This news was first reported byDigital Trends.
