How Punisher Still Plays A Key Role In Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (Despite Jon Bernthal's Absence)

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Daredevil: Born Again season 2, episode 1

While Daredevil: Born Again season 2 may not feature The Punisher, his dark legacy is still being felt in the new season. As seen in this new season of MCU television, Mayor Fisk has declared war on all New York vigilantes. That said, it looks as though Frank Castle's activities won't be front and center.

In the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) played a key role, making multiple appearances across a handful of episodes. Now, it's been confirmed that Frank's presence is still being felt despite his absence in Daredevil: Born Again season 2.

The Punisher Won't Appear In Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (But He Hasn't Been Forgotten)

At the end of Daredevil: Born Again season 1, The Punisher escaped the custody of Mayor Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force, who'd been keeping him caged in Fisk's Red Hook free port. Although his escape meant he could have joined Daredevil's growing resistance, it's largely been confirmed that Punisher will not be appearing in Daredevil: Born Again season 2.

However, Frank Castle's absence in this new season doesn’t mean that he's been completely forgotten. Case in point, the premiere episode of Daredevil: Born Again season 2 sees the AVTF wearing brand-new uniforms and armor featuring a variation of Punisher's iconic skull logo.

Naturally, this is a dark callback to the majority of the AVTF officers in the first season who idolized Frank for all the wrong reasons, and specifically Cole North, who posed as the Punisher when he was ordered to kill Hector Ayala's White Tiger.

With the AVTF having reduced Frank's war on crime by using his emblem as a badge of their corrupt authority, Frank's legacy is still quite present in this first issue, and will likely continue to be featured as the season continues. Likewise, it can be argued that that's enough for Daredevil: Born Again season 2. After all, the MCU in 2026 will not be lacking The Punisher by any means.

Even Without Daredevil, The MCU's Punisher Is Still Having A HUGE Year

While Jon Bernthal may not have a significant role in Daredevil: Born Again season 2, this year is still a pretty big deal for Frank Castle's Punisher. One week after Born Again season 2's finale, Disney+ will release The Punisher: One Last Kill, a 60-minute MCU special written by Bernthal himself which promises to be all kinds of brutal.

Then, it's also been confirmed that The Punisher will be featured in Spider-Man: Brand New Day releasing July 31st.

Brand New Day will be Frank Castle's first big-screen MCU appearance, shown clashing and working with Tom Holland's Webslinger. It's a major full-circle moment, seeing as how both Bernthal and Holland both made their MCU debuts in 2016, and even helped each other read lines for their auditions while working on a previous movie together.

Together, both of these upcoming projects will ensure that The Punisher remains a central figure in Marvel’s street-level storytelling even without an on-screen role in Daredevil: Born Again season 2. That said, nothing says Castle couldn't make a smaller cameo-style appearance to help set up his upcoming MCU special.

After all, Born Again season 2 trailers have shown what looks to be Frank's safehouse from the first season. Either way, the fact that Jon Bernthal's Punisher will be starring in two MCU projects this year more than makes up for not being as involved in Daredevil: Born Again season 2 as he was in the first season.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again season 2 release Tuesday nights on Disney+.

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  The Punisher: One Last Kill

  Release Date May 12, 2026

  Director Reinaldo Marcus Green

  Writers Reinaldo Marcus Green, Ross Andru, Jon Bernthal, Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr.

  Cast

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    Frank Castle / The Punisher

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    Jason R. Moore

    Curtis Hoyle

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