Frank Castle will arrive in the MCU proper on Daredevil: Born Again. Now we know he’s planning to stick around once he does. Jon Bernthal is co-writing his own Marvel special for The Punisher.
The Netflix era of Marvel shows ended with season two of The Punisher in 2019. Now, the character is ready to reunite with his fellow New York City vigilante on Daredevil: Born Again. We don’t yet know exactly what Frank Castle will do on the show (though we have some hints), but we know he’s going to make it out of the season alive. Jon Bernthal is penning the script for a Punisher special that will air on Disney+ (news we first heard at Entertainment Weekly). He’s co-writing the script with Reinaldo Marcus Green, director of We Own This City. Bernthal starred on the 2022 HBO miniseries as Sgt. Wayne Jenkins.
The head of Marvel Television Brad Winderbaum told EW the idea for the Marvel special came during the making of Daredevil: Born Again. On that upcoming series Winderbaum says Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock turns to Castle “because he needs something done that he’s unwilling to do.” And, like “a bull in a china shop,” the Punisher “drives right to the heart of the matter.”
That’s an interesting tidbit for Daredevil: Born Again. As for The Punisher Marvel special, Winderbaum says, “It’s like a shotgun blast of a story, but also has all the pathos and emotion that you want out of a Frank Castle story.”
Winderbaum recently said Marvel Studios is considering bringing back the rest of the Netflix era Defenders. This news makes that seem even more likely. It also indicates Disney hasn’t given up on doing MCU specials on its streaming service. Both Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special earned high marks from critics and fans.
From what we know of Jon Bernthal’s vigilante, we’d bet his special will kill, too.