Jon Bernthal to Headline "Punisher" Special for Marvel

Marvel Televison is developing a Punisher special starring Jon Bernthal.

Bernthal’s Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, who returns as the character in "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 1, headlines the Marvel special.

The special is said to be in the vein of "Werewolf by Night" or "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday" Special.

Bernthal is co-writing the special alongside Reinaldo Marcus Green, who will also direct.

The special will air in 2026, alongside "Daredevil" Season 2.

Bernthal first played the Frank Castle role on Netflix’s version of "Daredevil", debuting the character during second season in 2016.

He then went on to play the titular character for two seasons of Netflix’s "The Punisher", which aired from 2017-19.

"Daredevil: Born Again" follows original star Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, a blind attorney-turned-crimefighting superhero, and also features Vincent D’Onofrio reprising his role as mob boss Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin, alongside Bernthal’s Punisher.

Additionally, Deborah Ann Woll returns as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk, and Wilson Bethel as Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye.

Following a production pause in mid-June due to the writers’ strike, the show underwent a creative overhaul in October which saw the exit of head scribes and episodic directors Chris Ord and Matt Corman after Marvel Studios determined the show wasn’t working.

Dario Scardapane (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Punisher) was brought in as showrunner with directing team Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Loki). Ord and Corman remain as EPs on the two-season series.