In the world of Daredevil, things are moving quickly. First, the announcement that Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio would be reprising their respective roles as ‘Daredevil’ and ‘Kingpin’ was made last year in the wake of an upcoming Marvel Studios / Disney+ series, Echo. Then, fans were elated to learn that Disney+ would pick up the pieces of the much-loved Netflix series, Daredevil, with a standalone series currently in the works for a 2024 release.
Now, a familiar face will be returning to Hell’s Kitchen, and that’s Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, aka everybody’s favourite antihero, The Punisher. Bernthal joins Cox and D’Onofrio in the upcoming series, which will begin production in New York later this month. Much like the original Netflix series, Born Again will feature as a lengthy season with a planned 18 episodes.
Coming to Disney+ in 2024, the Born Again title originates from a significant Daredevil storyline published in 1986 by Frank Miller. While the series will deviate from the plot of that comic, the feud between Daredevil and Wilson Fisk (aka Kingpin) remains a focal point. As a (welcomed) addition, the Punisher is now set to feature in the upcoming series, but what type of role he will have is still uncertain. Much to the delight of fans world-wide, Born Again will also continue from Netflix’s Daredevil series that ran for three seasons from 2013-18.
Bernthal first made his debut as Frank Castle, a grieving father-turned-vigilante, on Netflix’s version of Daredevil in 2016. He went on to headline his own series for Netflix — partly due to the success of his character introduction — playing the character for two seasons in The Punisher.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter back in 2021, Bernthal spoke about the possibility of his character Frank Castle joining the MCU, and had hoped that the darkness of his character’s portrayal would still be possible in a post-Netflix scenario.
“I think if there’s any let up on that character, you do a disservice to the character, to every iteration of the character, to every comic book that’s come before, and to all of the unbelievable fans of the character,” said Bernthal.
“This character means so much to people in the military. So like I said before, it’s not about whether you do the character; it’s about whether you can do it right, and I’m only interested in doing it right.”
Other actors from the hit Netflix series Daredevil are not expected to return, such as Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page) and Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson).
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Daredevil: Born Again will begin filming in New York this month and is expected to premiere on Disney+ in 2024.
