In Daredevil: Born Again's first season, Jon Bernthal returned as The Punisher and lent the Man Without Fear a helping hand in his battle with Mayor Fisk's Anti-Vigilante Task Force.
When we last saw the anti-hero, he'd been captured by The Kingpin, only to seemingly mount a successful escape attempt in a post-credits scene. 2026 will see the release of The Punisher Special Presentation and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, two MCU projects Frank Castle is set to take centre stage in.
However, The Punisher will not be back to join Matt Murdock's fight against Wilson Fisk in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. Talking to Empire Magazine (via @NexusPointNews), executive producer Sana Amanat confirmed that Bernthal isn't going to appear in the series when it returns next March.
This presumably means The Punisher's story will continue in his Special Presentation, meaning he'll be otherwise tied up while Daredevil is busy trying to retake New York City. What's going to be really interesting is seeing how that Disney+ special gets Frank to a place where he's mixing it up with the likes of Spider-Man and The Scorpion.
The Punisher Special Presentation doesn't have a confirmed premiere date, but is expected to pit Frank against Ma Gnucci, a gangster from the comics who proved to be one of his deadliest foes.
"The landscape was open, and that was so liberating," Amanat said in a recent interview. "We were like, 'We can do whatever we want.'"
"What does it mean for Fisk when he’s gotten everything he wants?" Amanat said of Fisk successfully cracking down on superheroes with his Safer Streets Initiative. "When you give a person whose thirst cannot be quenched his most valued treasure, is it enough? Or does he squeeze his treasure too hard?"
While Daredevil will no longer have The Punisher by his side, he is getting some backup from Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones. "[Jones] isn’t necessarily a team-up kind of person," Amanat teased. "So the reason she’s back is because it feels like it’s very personal. She brings edginess and lightness — Daredevil can be very dark and dramatic, and she cuts through the BS in a really fun way."
In Marvel Television's Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities, is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavours in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
The series also stars Wilson Bethel, Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Zabryna Guevara, Nikki James, Genneya Walton, Arty Froushan, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, and Tony Dalton, with Ayelet Zurer and Jon Bernthal. Season 2 additions include Krysten Ritter, Matthew Lillard, Lili Taylor, and Royce Johnson. Dario Scardapane is showrunner.
"A masterpiece of epic proportions, Daredevil: Born Again delivers a powerful, unmissable take on the Man Without Fear," we said in our review. "Putting street-level heroics on the map in a way that promises to change the MCU forever, the show is sublime superhero storytelling on a whole new level."
All episodes of Daredevil: Born Again are now streaming on Disney+. Season 2 comes to the platform on March 4, 2026.