Marvel Televison has confirmed a Punisher special starring Jon Bernthal is in the works.
via: EW
While Marvel continues to plot out a space for the Defenders roster of characters on Disney+, at least one will be branching off to do his own thing.
Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, will officially return after an initial appearance in Daredevil: Born Again season 1, as the actor's gun-touting angel of vengeance will also headline his own Marvel special in the vein of Werewolf by Night or The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Entertainment Weekly can exclusively confirm.
Bernthal is also writing the script with his We Own This City director Reinaldo Marcus Green, who will helm this standalone special. "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, the head of Marvel Television, tells EW. "It's so exciting."
Winderbaum tells EW the story concept for the Punisher special came while filming season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again, which will premiere two episodes on Disney+ this March 4. On that show, Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock goes to Frank "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 says. "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."
Daredevil: Born Again also returns Vincent D'Onofrio as underworld "Kingpin" Wilson Fisk, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk, and Wilson Bethel as Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye — all veterans of the original Netflix Daredevil series with Bernthal's Frank Castle. The Punisher also received his own spinoff show on Netflix that ran for two seasons from 2017-2019.
In this new age of the Defenders on Disney+, the Marvel team is also mulling plans to bring back some of Matt Murdock's cohorts, namely Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, Mike Colter's Luke Cage, and Finn Jones' Danny Rand/Iron Fist. “I can't say much," Winderbaum said earlier, "but I'll tell you that it's so exciting to be able to play in that sandbox...I can just say that all those variables taken into account, it is certainly something that is creatively extremely exciting and that we are very much exploring."
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