Jon Bernthal is once again back in his Punisher gear as the popular anti-hero is set to return beyond season 2 of “Daredevil: Born Again” in Bernthal’s very own ‘Punisher’ special presentation by Marvel Studios. The special just started filming on July 17th in NYC and is expected to keep shooting until the first week of August. The online entertainment news outlet Just Jared recently posted the very first look at Bernthal in his return to Frank Castle, in all of the vigilante’s grimy glory.
Unfortunately, Bernthal is mot wearing the Punisher’s iconic uniform anywhere in the pics, but looks more like an alt-universe version of Shane Walsh that survived Rick and Carl. This is the first time we’ve gotten to see the character since being featured in ‘Born Again’, but these photos tell us we’ll be getting a lot more up close and personal with Frank Castle. The special was written by Reinaldo Marcus Green and Bernthal himself and was just announced earlier this year. Marvel’s Head of Television, Brad Winderbaum, spoke about the project in an interview to EW: “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… It’s so exciting.”
Marvel’s Head of Television, Brad Winderbaum, spoke about the project in an interview to EW: “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… It’s so exciting.”
Winderbaum usually talks favorably about all upcoming MCU projects so it’s hard to gauge much from his statement, but the fact the Bernthal helped write the script tells us just how much the actor cares about the legendary character. Bernthal and Co-Writer Green have worked together twice before, in King Richard (2021) and the Bernthal led HBO series, “We Own This City”. We are hopefully their developed chemistry will translate into an amazing script for the so-far secretive project.
This ‘Punisher’ special is only the third special produced by Marvel, with the first being “Werewolf by Night” and the second one coming out that same year, “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holliday Special”, which were both well received by critics and fans, but failed to amount to any noticeable subscriber bump for Disney+ viewers. Aside from the ‘Punisher’, there are no talks of other specials although it’s worth noting that Brad Winderbaum may have teased what could end up being a special for ‘Moon Knight’. No synopsis or story description has been released for the special, but it has been rumored that Bernthal has been extremely hands-on with this project and attentive to every detail, which could end up being a good or bad thing which we’ll have to wait for 2026 to find out.
In 2026, Castle us likely to have a deep character arc starting with the Punishers involvement in ‘Born Again’ season 2, then being followed up in the
‘Punisher’ special and finally concluding his arc in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”. The release order also could get swapped and the special could end up being the last part of the characters story in 2026. Being a special gives the Punisher more screentime than an action packed 2 and a half hour movie which will fear true tons of interesting characters, so maybe the special being the last party of Frank’s story will be the smartest plan.
It’s possible the character could die in ‘Brand New Day’ but usually Marvel is not eager on killing off characters that have maintained their devoted fanbases. ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Avengers’ are likely to break $1 Billion in the box office, but other properties are no longer guarantees. Marvel’s strategy in building up Bernthal’s iconic take on one of the greatest anti-hero characters of the 80’s era seems like the smartest way to build on Tom Holland’s fourth outing as Spider-Man instead of focusing on other movies that may not even break even from the box office take, between the production and promotional budgets.
These Marvel Studios Specials are less of a financial risks than full 5-9 episode series and may have been the way to go when creating the “Echo” series, amongst others. Marvel has taken a lot of gambles since phase 4 and not all of them have paid off, but for every “WandaVision” or “Agatha All Along”, we have to take chances on shows that may not end up resonating with the MCU’s core base of ardent fans. Although there is zero.chance of seeing the Punisher in ‘Doomsday’, “Avengers: Secret Wars” could end up using an augmented version of the character on Battleworld, but even that is super long shot. 2026 seems to be the big year for the Punisher and we can’t wait to get started with ‘Born Again’ season 2, starting in March.
What do you think? What will the plot for the ‘Punisher’ special revolve around? Is it possible that Marvel will finally kill off their most popular anti-hero? Will Spidey and Punisher end up seeing eye to eye by the end of ‘Brand New Day’? Besides Jessica Jones, what other MCU characters might return in ‘Born Again’? Will the Punisher ever get an iron man level suit?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
