Yesterday evening, news broke that Jon Bernthal is set to make his MCU debut as The Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again. The actor previously played Frank Castle in Daredevil and The Punisher on Netflix, and while we don't know what role he'll play in this story, fans are keeping everything crossed that Bernthal has a bright future working alongside Marvel Studios.
The Man Without Fear's 18-episode TV show - which we've heard could be split into three 6-episode mini-seasons - will pit Matt Murdock against The Kingpin, but we'll be seeing them before then.
Photos from the set of Echo confirmed Vincent D'Onofrio will return as Wilson Fisk in the Hawkeye spin-off, but Charlie Cox's involvement has only been rumoured up until now.
However, buried in The Hollywood Reporter's story about Bernthal's return is the fact, "both Cox and D’Onofrio are key figures in the upcoming Echo, a series said to set the stage for Born Again."
This lines up with what a number of scoopers have been claiming in recent months, and comic book fans will likely be able to piece together how this is going to play out. While Maya Lopez has yet to meet Daredevil in the MCU, she's already gunned down Fisk the same way her comic book counterpart once did.
However, just like the Fisk on the page survived (and was temporarily blinded), so too has D'Onofrio's take on the villain.
Establishing Daredevil and Echo as allies could be key to Born Again and one popular theory is that The Kingpin is somehow able to shed his villainous image and run for New York City's Mayor. If that does indeed happen, then it might lay the groundwork for Spider-Man 4 as well.
Shooting begins on Daredevil: Born Again this month in New York ahead of a planned 2024 premiere on Disney+.