The Punisher is getting his own spinoff from Daredevil: Born Again. Except instead of being a new season of Jon Bernthal’s gun-toting vigilante, Punisher will headline a special on Disney+. Entertainment Weekly confirmed The Punisher is getting a Marvel’s Special Presentation in the same vein as the specials for Werewolf by Night and Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. As an added bonus, Bernthal is writing the script with Reinaldo Marcus Green, who is also directing. Green and Bernthal collaborated together on We Own This City. This would mark Marvel’s third Special Presentation project, and another sign that Marvel is backing its Defenders characters.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“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,” Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of TV, streaming, and animation, told EW. “It’s so exciting.” Winderbaum added that the genesis of the Punisher Special Presentation came while filming the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, where Bernthal’s Punisher returns alongside other Marvel Netflix characters like Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), and of course, Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox).
[RELATED: Marvel Already Has the Perfect Tool to Fill MCU Gaps]
Daredevil: Born Again will see Matt Murdock go to Frank Castle/Punisher “because he needs something done that he’s unwilling to do,” Winderbaum previously teased. “And Frank, a bull in a china shop, drives right to the heart of the matter.”
“Bernthal is a generational actor,” Winderbaum said. “He’s incredible what he brings to all the roles he plays, but particularly Frank Castle. And he’s a great writer. He knows the character inside and out…. Also, I love Punisher, but I love Jon’s Punisher in particular. The idea that he’s in the MCU and can bring that to the greater universe, especially the more grounded street-level stuff, is a huge opportunity and, as a fan, the greatest thing ever.”
Brad Winderbaum has spoken about Marvel Studios looking to do more Special Presentations. ComicBook asked Winderbaum at the junket for Agatha All Along if he thought fans get more Special Presentations, to which he responded, “Yes, I do.” Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige also confirmed over the summer that “just one” Special Presentation is currently being worked on, although we might not see it until sometime in 2026. It’s possible Feige was alluding to The Punisher Special Presentation.
“There will be more,” Feige told Collider. “You just have to wait.”
Werewolf by Night was Marvel’s first Special Presentation and was released in black-and-white to match its horror theme. Directed by Michael Giacchino, Werewolf by Night was released in October 2022 and starred Gael García Bernal as Jack Russell, aka the titular Werewolf by Night. It also introduced monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly) to the MCU. After releasing in black-and-white, Marvel also dropped the full color version on Disney+. Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special released in November 2022 and filled the gaps between Avengers: Endgame and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III.
Daredevil: Born Again debuts on Disney+ March 4th with a two-episode premiere.
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios
