A Tornado

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Hopefully, Daredevil: Born Again’s creative team will treat Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, with more respect than Foggy (Elden Henson) received in the very first installment of the Disney+ streaming series. Bernthal hasn’t appeared yet in the episodes which have already dropped. However, the fan-favorite Marvel character’s arrival is imminent, and it will undoubtedly rub Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) the wrong way given the Kingpin’s political stance on vigilantes. Regardless of how Fisk reacts, though, showrunner Dario Scardapane is teasing a tornadic reunion between the fan-favorite vigilante and the man without fear (Charlie Cox). Scardapane said in an interview with TVLine:

“Jon is near and dear to my heart. It was amazing to come back and get to work with him again. I feel that whenever Frank comes into the story, hijinks ensue, and in this story, that is very, very true. He comes in for a very, very particular reason. He is brought in by a very, very particular person, and I think that it will be immensely satisfying — and a bit like, ‘Oh, my God!’ Whenever you put Frank and Daredevil together, all bets are off. It’s a tornado. I mean… we broke some stuff!”

Bernthal first suited up as Frank Castle’s punishing alter ego during Netflix’s Daredevil series before becoming the titular lead of his own show, The Punisher, which lasted for two seasons on the streaming service. Thankfully, unless the upcoming special featuring his character is a prequel, Castle won’t end up unceremoniously shot and killed like fan-favorite Foggy was to kick off Daredevil: Born Again. Fans don’t have to worry about the Bernthal-led special holding back either, because it’s being teased by the actor as 100% no holds barred.

‘The Punisher’ Special Is “Going to Be Dark”

The majority of Daredevil: Born Again fans online believe the person sporting The Punisher t-shirt — the one who killed White Tiger (Kamar de los Reyes) — is not the real Frank Castle. Certainly, it would be quite an unexpected reveal if the vigilante did in fact shoot poor Hector Ayala in cold blood. It’s definitely dark, so perhaps Born Again won’t go there, having already written off Foggy. However, the upcoming Punisher special might just blur that line between what’s right or wrong when it drops in 2026. After all, Punisher actor Jon Bernthal has already promised the standalone event is “going to be dark” while promoting The Accountant 2 at the SXSW Film Festival. The actor said (per The Hollywood Reporter):

“It’s going to be dark; Frank has no interest in breaking out the darkness. It’s not going to be easy. I don’t know if that’s the Netflix tone then that’s what it’s going to be. It will not be Punisher-lite, I promise you that […] I care very deeply about Frank. I’m really grateful that I’m getting the opportunity to tell the story that I think the fans deserve.

We’re giving it our all, and we’re trying to tell a Frank Castle story that we’re going to turn our back on the audience — it’s not going to be easy, it’s not going to be light, and I think it’s the version that this character deserves, and I’m just beyond honored and grateful that we get the opportunity.”

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again drop every Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT on Disney+, and, hopefully, the man without fear’s faithful won’t have to wait much longer for Jon Bernthal to finally make his appearance. Meanwhile, fans can expect the Bernthal-led Punisher special to stream sometime in 2026 along with the highly anticipated second season of Born Again. Bernthal will also be co-writing the standalone special with Reinaldo Marcus Green, who is slated to direct the project.

Sources: TVLine, THR

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2025-03-17 15:34