At this stage, it's not exactly a secret that Jon Bernthal will reprise the role of Frank Castle/The Punisher for Daredevil: Born Again, but the actor has now made his return officially official with a new behind-the-scenes photo.
We've seen Bernthal suited-up as the ultra-violent vigilante alongside Charlie Cox's Man Without Fear in a series of set photos, but here we see The Walking Dead alum taking a break between shooting to pose for a snap with Cox and Deborah Ann Woll, who will also be back as Karen Page.
Initially, Woll and Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson) were not going to be a part of the series, but after a significant overall, their characters were added. Since Born Again is so deep into production, the fact that Woll is still filming scenes may suggest that Page will be a part of the final few episodes.
In a 2023 interview, Bernthal promised that he's going to ensure that we get a comic-accurate take on The Punisher in Born Again.
"I also know that it’s absolutely essential that if we do it, we do it right and we have real sacred integrity to the source material and to what is at the core of Frank. I’m gonna do my absolute best to make sure that, if and when we do it, we do it right.”
Will Castle be allowed to be as uncompromisingly brutal as he was in his own show? We had been led to believe that Born Again was going to be PG-13, but the recent news that the show will be released under the Marvel Spotlight banner has led to renewed speculation that it will be TV-MA.
Castle and Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) have a lot of history in the comic books, and even though they don't cross paths in Frank Miller's Born Again comic, we already know that the show is going to make some significant changes to the source material.
The show is not expected to run for the originally announced 18 episodes. A recent rumor claimed that it would likely air 9 (possibly 6) episodes before taking a mid-season break.
The upcoming Disney+ series doesn't have an official release date yet, but is still listed as being on Disney's updated 2024 schedule.