Jon Bernthal has been a fixture of our screens since he first burst onto the scene as Shane Walsh in The Walking Dead. The beloved AMC series catapulted him to superstardom and, just a few years later, he landed his signature role as The Punisher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That's a role he has been playing on and off for a decade now, and he just achieved a career highlight playing him 10 years on.
Bernthal was a major part of the massive ensemble cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, bringing his portrayal of Frank Castle to the silver screen for the first time ever. The film has been a resounding success in essentially every way imaginable, breaking box office records and setting the stage for the MCU's sure-to-be-equally-massive phenomenon Avengers: Doomsday this December.
It's unclear as to whether Bernthal will appear in that film but it sounds like Marvel Studios may already have plans for where he will surface next.
Marvel Studios reportedly planning a Punisher: One Last Kill sequel
According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios has plans to develop a sequel to Disney Plus Special Presentation The Punisher: One Last Kill but it hasn't figured out what form it should take. Right now, the options are reportedly another Special Presentation or a live-action TV series. If this turns out to be the case, it shows just how successful bringing Jon Bernthal's Punisher back has been.
While Spider-Man: Brand New Day was certainly the most light-hearted adventure that the gritty Frank Castle has taken part in within the MCU yet, it came after what may just be the darkest. One Last Kill streamed on Disney Plus earlier this year, with the 40-minute special taking Frank to his darkest, loneliest of places before he eventually found his way out in a hard-hitting, violent, bloody fight scene that reminded him that The Punisher has a place in the MCU.
The special was critically-acclaimed while also performing extremely well for the platform, maintaining its No. 1 spot on the daily Disney Plus Movies Top 10 chart for weeks after its debut. It's no surprise to learn that Marvel Studios is interested in making a sequel - especially after the character was exposed to a whole new audience in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. After all, that means that The Punisher - a less mainstream Marvel antihero who is best-known to MCU fans for his time as part of the Marvel Netflix shows - is now a part of the third-highest-grossing movie of all time.
While a character like The Punisher would certainly work in another standalone special (after all, his story with Ma Gnucci isn't over yet), this might be the perfect opportunity to right the wrong that Netflix was responsible for over a decade ago. See, before Frank was a part of the mainstream MCU, he was an integral part of the aforementioned Marvel Netflix franchise - which wasn't entirely considered canon back then (it has since been retroactively canonized into the MCU). And that involved starring in his own series for two seasons before its premature cancellation.
Bernthal made his MCU debut in 2016's Daredevil season 2 on Netflix. He was a series regular throughout that season, being the perfect foil for Charlie Cox's Daredevil / Matt Murdock. His performance was so well-received that he went on to headline The Punisher. The cancellation of the series threw the character into limbo (along with the other Marvel Netflix stars) until Bernthal reprised the role in 2025's Daredevil: Born Again season 1 - which ultimately set the stage for One Last Kill.
Needless to say, the Special Presentation was exceptionally well-received and it was a reminder of how compelling Bernthal is in this role. Moreover, the fact that he co-wrote it is a reminder of how well he understands Frank Castle and that just highlights how we need to see more of him in the MCU. Bernthal didn't return to the role to retire Frank; there's more to his story and Spider-Man: Brand New Day is proof of that.
The potential of The Punisher TV series wasn't completely realized due to its unnecessarily short run. By bringing the character back for a new series, Marvel has the opportunity to right that wrong while also telling a very different kind of story. And with recent reports suggesting that the studio wants to keep the Marvel TV side of things more grounded, a Punisher TV series feels like a win-win all-around.
The Punisher: One Last Kill is now streaming on Disney Plus. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now in theaters.
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