Abhiroop Das
Created by Matt Corman, Chris Ord, and Dario Scardapane, Disney+’s ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ returns with its second season to pit Matt Murdock against Fisk, who is now the mayor of The Big Apple. Forced into hiding alongside Karen Page, Matt now has to start from scratch and assemble a team of vigilantes who can bring this reign of terror to a definitive end. However, as Kingpin flexes the full extent of his criminal powers in manufacturing a private island in the middle of the city, Matt realizes that just his fists alone might not cut it. Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher, is perhaps the single best teammate Matt can ask for on the offensive, but he goes surprisingly unmentioned in episode 1 of this superhero crime drama series. As such, fans are naturally left curious about the fate of Marvel’s favorite anti-hero. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Frank Castle’s Escape From Fisk’s Prison Happens Off-Screen
With both Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio confirming that Frank Castle will not join Matt’s campaign against Fisk, at least for this season, the biggest question now is how he escaped imprisonment in the first place. The last we see of Frank in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ is inside one of Fisk’s anti-vigilante cages, and while we see the Punisher knock out a guard in preparation for his grand escape, it is still odd how this section of his journey is now supposed to happen off-screen. Another possibility, however, is that this plotline will be taken up in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ as the trailers confirm that Frank will be making an appearance there. From what little crumbs we get in the trailer, it appears that he is on the run, and armed with an armored truck, both of which can hypothetically be connected to Fisk’s prisons.
Given that this season is focused on Matt tracking down some underground, or lesser-known vigilantes, and setting up a dream team to take down Fisk, it makes sense that the show might give Frank a break from the spotlight. Working solo and being anti-authority has been the Punisher’s motto since day one, and the idea of him becoming a part of a larger team doesn’t quite sit right on a thematic level. While there might be factors behind the scenes that explain the character being written out of the season, this exclusion still makes sense given the internal logic of the story. Given the show’s obsession with tying up details, it is only a matter of time before Frank’s curious fate is explained, perhaps with more teases for his future along the way.
Jon Bernthal Has His Own Punisher Movie to Work on, Alongside Spider-Man and The Odyssey
While the creators officially confirmed in November of 2025 that Jon Bernthal isn’t going to reprise his role as Frank Castle in season 2 of ‘Daredevil: Born Again,’ it wasn’t until recently that the cast of the show chimed in to explain why. When asked about Frank’s absence from the narrative, Charlie Cox jokingly responded with “He was gallivanting with Spider-Man this entire time,” referring to ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’ Actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays Fisk, made a similar comment about the Punisher’s whereabouts, opining that if Bernthal “wasn’t busy making his own hour-long Punisher film and hangin with that insect, we would have wanted him to join us in Season 2 for sure.”
D’Onofrio’s mention of an “hour-long Punisher film’ is referring to ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill,’ a TV special set to release on May 12, one week after the ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ season 2 finale. It is possible that this movie will bridge the events between the ‘Daredevil’ and ‘Spider-Man’ sides of the MCU, with Frank entering and exiting both worlds as he pleases. Additionally, Bernthal is also essaying a key role in Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey,’ and it is possible that its production schedules clashed with that of season 2. As such, with clear scheduling conflicts between the many ambitious projects Bernthal is involved in, it appears that the ‘Born Again’ series is the one that will have to bid the actor goodbye, at least for the time being.
Notably, Bernthal’s temporary exit from the ‘Daredevil’ series doesn’t necessarily mean that he is out forever. He has been a part of Matt’s journey from the very start, and given that it has almost always been in cameo formats, we can expect more of that to follow in all upcoming iterations of the story. On the other hand, there is a small but wild possibility that the creators are intentionally keeping Bernthal’s role in the season under wraps, as Marvel has a history of pulling off such sleight of hands, especially when it comes to fan-favorite reveals like the one in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ or ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’ As such, while chances are that Bernthal is truly out of the narrative for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ season 2, fans can expect to be surprised in one way or another.
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