Jon Bernthal promises that his Punisher special will not be ‘Punisher-lite’
Jon Bernthal’s return as The Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again is just the first time we’ll be seeing his character. Bernthal is set to headline a Punisher special for Disney+ in 2026, and in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he offered a sense of what the tone of that special will be.
“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,” he explained.
Bernthal is co-writing the project with Reinaldo Marcus Green, and suggested that the tone would be similar to that of the Punisher Netflix series, which ran from 2017 to 2019.
“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,” he said. “It will not be Punisher-lite, I promise you that.”
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Bernthal first played Frank Castle, a grieving father who becomes a vigilante, on Daredevil in 2016 before appearing in his own spin-off series a year later. The Punisher special is currently set to air alongside the second season of Daredevil in 2026.
