Jon Bernthal to Return as the Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again

Jon Bernthal is returning to Marvel to reprise his role as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Daredevil: Born Again series on Disney+, according to THR. It’s especially exciting news considering the show is also set to bring us more of Charlie Cox as the title character and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin.

THR says filming is scheduled to begin this month in New York, with an intention to premiere the show in spring 2024. It’ll tell an 18-episode story that brings Cox’s Matt Murdock back into the fray after wrapping up season 3 of Netflix’s version of the character in 2018. Although we know how many episodes the show is, we still know little about how Daredevil: Born Again will continue Daredevil’s story or whether it will even follow the events of the Netflix series. Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson, who played Karen Page and Foggy Nelson on Netflix, are reportedly not on the roll call for Born Again.

Bernthal first appeared as the Punisher in Daredevil season 2. He upped the ante with an arsenal of weapons that tore through New York’s worst criminals, and although he did not appear in the show’s third season, the character went on to receive his own self-titled spinoff show at Netflix. The series spanned two seasons and brought the violence to a new level. Frank Castle’s journey as a merciless savior pulled no punches, but many are worried that things won’t be the same for the Punisher and Jon Bernthal in Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+.

That fear comes from Disney’s reluctance to show violence in the past, especially when it comes to MCU films. While the franchise has explored darker tones in recent films such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, many of the series’s projects stray from anything too serious. However, Bernthal had stated in late 2021 that he would only return as the Punisher if future iterations maintained the “level of darkness” seen in the past.

“That’s where that character needs to be,” Bernthal said at the time. “It needs to be a level of darkness. I think if there’s any let up on that character, you do a disservice to the character, to every iteration of the character, to every comic book that’s come before, and to all of the unbelievable fans of the character. This character means so much to people in the military.”

He added in the same interview that he is “only interested in doing it right.” Hopefully, Jon Bernthal’s love for the Punisher will carry into his reprisal when Daredevil: Born Again comes to Disney+ next year.