The greatest movie franchise in cinema history, according to Jon Bernthal
Jon Bernthal has been in some truly great movies and TV shows.
He’s lent his memorable ‘tough guy’ aura to the likes of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, Origin, and Ford v Ferrari, as well as making some Emmy-winning appearances in the hit series, The Bear. However, when it comes to his most recognisable work, you have to look to the world of franchises.
Bernthal first came to a lot of people’s attention as Shane ‘Sorry I Slept with Your Wife While You Were in a Coma’ Walsh in The Walking Dead. Inspired by Robert Kirkman’s comic book series of the same name, the show has spun off in several different directions since Bernthal left. As the face of a series, his biggest role has been that of Frank Castle, the Marvel antihero who goes by the name of ‘The Punisher’.
Another franchise he’s been a part of is the ‘Accountant’ series. Starring Ben Affleck in the title role, the series follows an autistic maths genius, Christian Wolff, who uses his skills to cook the books for powerful and dangerous criminal syndicates. Following the 2016 original, a sequel was released in 2025. Bernthal reprises his role as Braxton, Christian’s brother, although in a massively increased capacity compared to the first time around. The follow-up received great reviews across the board, with some even saying it was better than the first one.
While promoting The Accountant 2, Bernthal and Affleck were speaking to Complex when the subject of movie franchises came up. As part of their ‘GOAT Talk’ series, the outlet asked both actors to name the ‘GOAT’ (‘Greatest of All Time’, for those who don’t know) of franchises. Affleck picked the ‘Bourne’ series, admitting that it sounded a little like ‘home cooking’ because of his long-time friendship with its star, Matt Damon. As for Bernthal, he went for something a little further from his own orbit.
The star opted for the Rocky franchise, which Affleck very enthusiastically agreed with. “The first ‘Rocky’ is probably the best movie ever to spawn a franchise, in my opinion,” said the Argo director, with Bernthal contributing his love for Rocky II and Rocky III. “The point of the first one was that there wasn’t going to be a franchise,” Affleck added, referring to Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) and Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) deciding there would be no rematch after their first encounter. There was, of course, a rematch.
Including the inaugural movie, there have been a total of nine films in the wider Rocky Cinematic Universe – the ‘RCU’, if you will. The first ‘chapter’ of the franchise, if you want to call it that, ran from 1976 to 1990, and featured five numerically-titled films. The character returned as an older, veteran fighter in 2006’s Rocky Balboa, before the baton was handed over to Michael B. Jordan. As Adonis Creed, son of Rocky’s old nemesis-turned-friend, Jordan has starred in three ‘Creed’ movies, two of which featured Stallone as Balboa.
With at least three more films in the works, who knows how much longer the ‘Rocky’ series will go on for. At least Bernthal and Affleck will have plenty more to talk about over the next couple of decades.
