While most scripted TV fight scenes go off without a hitch, things can occasionally go wrong or be taken too far. All it takes is one ill-timed duck or punch to make the star of a show pass out due to the amount of blood coming out of her mouth. But Krysten Ritter apparently isn't the only Marvel Netflix hero to have taken a beating on set, as Charlie Cox revealed he shared a Daredevil fight scene with The Punisher actor Jon Bernthal that got a little too real and ended in some really sore ribs:
There was this scene on a boat with Jon. The first piece of action is I roll out the door and The Punisher comes out, and the first thing he does is kick me in the stomach and then I get up and we go into the fight sequence. Me and Jon were still getting to know each other, and I said I never want an actor to feel like they have to be too careful because you want them to live in it and be really in it. So I made the mistake of saying to Jon, 'Hey dude, don't worry about me. You go ahead you kick me if you need to.' Now, I've said that to people in the past and they're like 'Cool, thanks man,' and they take it on board, but they don't smack me in the stomach. Anyway, after about the fourth take, I was so winded and in so much pain, and I was starting to think I might lose a rib. So I had to go up to Jon and be like, 'Buddy, I'm sorry, man. You're going to have to stop kicking me in the ribs, pal. It's so painful.'
Before the Charlie Cox lovers of the world begin to send Punisher-esque threats to Jon Bernthal's doorstep, remember that Cox did ask for it. That said, perhaps the Daredevil actor should've done a test run to see exactly how hard Bernthal would be kicking before letting him tee off on his ribcage. Considering the shot required at least those four initial takes, Cox is one tough bastard for not having said something sooner to his co-star! Unless Jon Bernthal's kicks aren't really that painful, and the Daredevil star was just being sensitive. (That's almost definitely not the case.)
Judging from the scene in which the rib kicks happen, though, those kicks look vicious. If the Daredevil scene was filmed the way it aired in the final cut, then Charlie Cox took at least twelve kicks before telling Jon Bernthal to chill out on the method acting. Even with the protection the suit may provide, that's bound to leave anyone a little battered and bruised. If Cox did have any bruising from the incident, however, he didn't say so to the folks at the ACE Comic-Con.
Hilariously enough, Charlie Cox took all that punishment for a bit that lasts all of two seconds -- it starts at 1:35 -- so everyone should watch again and enjoy it to make sure his pain wasn't in vain.
Daredevil Seasons 1 and 2, as well as The Punisher, are available to stream on Netflix, with Season 3 of Daredevil coming sometime in 2018. For a look at some shows that are coming up before 2017 reaches its end, visit our fall premiere guide. For a look at when to expect when new shows and old favorites will be premiering in 2018, head on over to our midseason premiere guide. For a look at some shows that received a swift rib kick of cancellation before the year reached its end, visit our cancellation guide.
