Frank Castle is about to take center stage on the small screen again in The Punisher special. Jon Bernthal's vigilante returned to our TVs in Daredevil: Born Again for the first time since his Netflix show was cancelled back in 2019, but now he's branching out alone in an upcoming Disney Plus TV special.
The project will be the third Marvel Studios Special Presentation after Werewolf By Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which were both released back in 2022 and are standalone episodes that are around an hour long. It looks like the Punisher will be joined by at least one familiar face for his special, and set photos also hint at the MCU debut of a Marvel villain from the comics.
We still have a little while to wait before we're reunited with Frank Castle in Marvel Phase 6, but in the meantime, we've got everything you need to know about The Punisher special right here, from the release date window to a list of cast members and our best theories about the plot.
The Punisher special release date
The Punisher TV special is set to be released in 2026, but we don't have a specific release date just yet. It was previously reported that the special would release "alongside" Daredevil: Born Again season 2, which hits Disney Plus in March, so we may be able to expect Punisher's standalone project to also drop next spring.
The Punisher special trailer
No, there isn't a trailer for The Punisher special just yet. Filming has now wrapped on the project, so we can expect a trailer to drop a couple of months before release – whenever that might be. If it follows Daredevil: Born Again season 2 in March 2026, we can probably expect a teaser this winter.
The Punisher special cast
Jon Bernthal is the only confirmed cast member for The Punisher special just yet, but other actors (namely Jason R. Moore returning as Frank's trusted friend Curtis Hoyle) have been spotted on set. Other set photos have also suggested that crime boss Ma Gnucci could be going up against the Punisher, but we don't know who'll be playing her yet.
You can see the full list of confirmed cast members below, which we'll add to as it grows.
- Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/Punisher
- Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle
The Punisher special plot
Marvel hasn't released any official plot details about The Punisher special just yet, but we can start to paint a picture thanks to set photos from filming in New York City in summer 2025. The main clue comes from an establishment that could be Gnucci's Restaurant from the comics, which is owned by the Gnucci crime family. In Marvel Comics, Ma Gnucci, the family matriarch, is out for revenge against the Punisher after he kills her two sons.
We last saw Frank Castle in Daredevil: Born Again episode 4, when Matt Murdock confronted him for not doing anything about the people misusing his symbol (in the previous episode, White Tiger is murdered by a man sporting the Punisher's distinctive white skull). So, as well as taking on New York's criminals, he may be going up against his own appropriative copycats, too. Plus, we know that we'll see Frank again in Spider-Man 4, officially titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day, so it's likely that the special will set up Peter Parker's next big-screen outing, too.
At any rate, we can definitely expect something dark and gritty. "I care very deeply about Frank, I’m really grateful that I’m getting the opportunity to tell the story that I think the fans deserve," Bernthal said when the TV special was first announced. We're giving it our all and we're trying to tell a Frank Castle story that we're going to turn our back on the audience – it's not going to be easy, it's not going to be light, and I think it's the version that this character deserves and I'm just beyond honored and grateful that we get the opportunity… It will not be Punisher-lite, I promise you that."
For more from the MCU, check out our guide to all the other upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way in 2025 and beyond.
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