How Jon Bernthal's Punisher Could Return To The MCU

It's long been reported Jon Bernthal will return as the Punisher for "Daredevil: Born Again." That remains the case even after Marvel fired the creative team and ordered a redo. Scooper Alex P., a writer for My Cosmic Circus who's a fairly reliable source, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Hearing that events from #ThePunisher [Season 1 and Season 2] will be referenced in #DaredevilBornAgain. It will be handled similarly to how Fisk's past was referenced in #Echo. So expect all of Castle's emotional baggage from his show to play a part in the upcoming show."

This should be taken with a grain of salt, especially seeing how much can still change between now and when "Daredevil: Born Again" releases. However, it would make sense for Jon Bernthal's Punisher to be the same variant audiences initially saw on Netflix. Disney has officially canonized the Netflix Marvel shows as existing within the main timeline. The events of "The Punisher" can easily be referenced with this in mind, and he'd find himself in trouble given what "Daredevil: Born Again" will probably be about.

The post-credits scene for "Echo" teases Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) running for New York City mayor. Provided he's successful in his campaign (which he likely will be), he'd undoubtedly make life more challenging for all New York-based vigilantes, including Punisher. The character could run into Daredevil again to provide even more TV-MA action.

Charlie Cox's Daredevil and Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin have appeared in multiple projects explicitly set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Daredevil showed up in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law," and "Echo." Meanwhile, Kingpin has brought his villainous sensibilities to "Hawkeye" and "Echo." "Daredevil: Born Again" would be an ideal platform to showcase other characters from the canceled Netflix shows. If Punisher returns, it could be the beginning of a prominent role in the franchise. 

It's been teased that "Spider-Man 4" with Tom Holland could be a "street-level Civil War," giving Daredevil a more substantial role after he was simply Peter Parker's lawyer in "No Way Home." If New York's vigilantes need to take sides, it would make sense for other heroes to factor into the storyline, including Punisher. Given his violent nature and philosophy on why killing bad guys is necessary, he would bring an intriguing dynamic to a Spider-Man movie.

If the next Spider-Man movie takes some cues from "Civil War," one possible issue that could divide New York's heroes is Kingpin attaining so much power. Becoming mayor of a high-profile city that's seen a full-on alien invasion would likely give the villain some extraordinary overreach, and the heroes may be divided on how to deal with him. This should all be treated as speculation, but things seem to point to a Punisher return.