Bernthal reprises his role as Frank Castle / Punisher from Marvel's Netflix television series and the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again (2025–present). Following the cancellation of The Punisher in 2019, Bernthal was cast for Born Again in March 2023. A special featuring his character was conceived during filming of the first season of that series, with Bernthal and Green revealed to be working on the project with Marvel Studios in February 2025.
The special is set to be released in 2026, as part of Phase Six of the MCU.
Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher: A vigilante who aims to fight the criminal underworld by any means necessary, no matter how lethal the results are[1]
In June 2015, Jon Bernthal was cast as the Marvel Comics character Punisher for the second season of the Netflix series Daredevil (2015–2018), which was produced by Marvel Television.[2] In April 2016, Netflix ordered the spin-off series The Punisher (2017–2019), with Bernthal reprising his role as Frank Castle / Punisher.[3] Both series were canceled by the end of February 2019,[4] not long before Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios, the production company behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films.[5][6] A Disney+ revival series titled Daredevil: Born Again (2025–present) was announced by Marvel Studios in July 2022.[7] Bernthal was set to reprise his role by March 2023,[8][9] but soon left the series because he did not agree with the direction it was taking Castle. After Born Again underwent a creative overhaul and former The Punisher writer Dario Scardapane was hired to be its showrunner, Bernthal returned and had input on the character's portrayal. He felt the first season of Born Again "opened the door to getting closer to the Frank Castle that I really, really want to portray".[10]
During filming for the first season of Born Again, Bernthal conceived a story for a television special focused on the Punisher.[1][10] Marvel Studios looked at some of Bernthal's previous writing and then asked him to pitch the special to them before it moved forward. He said that he did not want them to "just hand it to me... they've held me accountable to every step along the way. I really want to earn this and I really want this to be good."[10]Brad Winderbaum, the head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel Studios, revealed that the special was in development under the "Marvel Studios Special Presentation" banner in February 2025.[11]Reinaldo Marcus Green was set to direct the special and was writing the screenplay with Bernthal, after they worked together on the film King Richard (2021) and the miniseries We Own This City (2022).[1][10] Winderbaum said the character was very important to Bernthal, who he felt had turned the Punisher into an "icon".[11] The special will be the first work produced based on Bernthal's writing.[10]
Winderbaum said the Punisher was driven by pain, revenge, and justice, and felt the character was most interesting in stories that explored how his philosophy leads to specific ways of seeking justice.[11] He described the special as "a shotgun blast of a story, but [it] also has all the pathos and emotion that you want out of a Frank Castle story".[1] Bernthal said the special would be a "version that this character deserves" and not "Punisher-lite".[12] He added that the special would have "the visceral, psychologically complex, unforgiving, no-holds-barred version of Frank where he's going to turn his back to the audience. And nothing is easy and all violence has a cost, and we're going to see that cost. I'm grateful that they're letting me go to the places that I really want to go." Bernthal brought in former Marine Raider Nick Koumalatsos, who helped him train for Born Again, as a consultant on the special.[10]
The page Untitled Punisher television special in the mainspace is currently a redirect to Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Six.
