Over the past half-decade, Marvel Studios has attempted to perfect its television arm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It started extremely strong with 2021's WandaVision, which kicked off the franchise's Disney Plus era on an Emmy-nominated high. There have been multiple successes since then, but it hasn't been smooth-sailing for the MCU as a number of the shows have either underperformed or received a mixed response from audiences. But with the likes of Agatha All Along, Loki season 2, and Echo receiving strong responses, things are back on track.
Marvel characters have been headlining TV shows for years before the official MCU shows arrived on our screens. That much was clear from Netflix's shared universe of Marvel heroes, one of whom has now made the jump to the MCU with his own revival series Daredevil: Born Again. It's one of the most hotly-anticipated installments of the franchise's upcoming titles as fans are hoping it will match the heights of its Netflix predecessor.
Speaking of which, Marvel may be about to bring back another classic series that had its original run cut short - and fans are already loving the idea.
Marvel reportedly developing a new Punisher TV series
According to veteran insider Daniel Richtman, a new series focused on The Punisher is in development at Marvel Studios. Although it doesn't outright state whether it would be a brand new series or a sequel series to the original Netflix show, it's a pretty forgone conclusion that - if the show does come to fruition - it will be in the form of a revival series.
Jon Bernthal, who played the character in Netflix's The Punisher series, will be reprising his role as the hardened vigilante in Daredevil: Born Again. Although Marvel did not announce his return, he was quickly spotted alongside Charlie Cox on the set of the upcoming Disney Plus series, reuniting the stars for the first time since they shared the screen on the original Daredevil series' second season.
Bernthal made his first appearance as the character in Daredevil season 2 as an antagonistic figure for The Man Without Fear to take down, but the two ultimately worked together to take the fight to The Hand. The man behind the Punisher, Frank Castle, also formed a bond with Karen Page, which was partly responsible for his attempt to adopt a less vengeful approach to his vigilante activities.
He then headlined his own TV series for the streamer, which was initially thought to be the beginning of a new wave of Marvel Netflix shows. However, when Netflix opted to bring about an end to the Marvel shows in spite of their success The Punisher was cancelled after its second season.
With his appearance in Daredevil: Born Again, Jon Bernthal now joins Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel
, and Ayelet Zurer as the seventh cast member of the Marvel Netflix shows to officially join the MCU. Ahead of the release of Disney Plus' Echo, Marvel confirmed that those shows - which consisted of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher - have since been retroactively canonized as part of the MCU franchise, setting the stage for more returning actors in the future.
It also opens the door to potential revivals of all of those aforementioned shows. If a new Punisher series is indeed happening, it would make sense to have that one be the one to succeed Daredevil: Born Again given that the character will make his official MCU debut in that series. The only thing left to do in order to make it happen is for Marvel to officially announce it.
Daredevil: Born Again premieres on March 4, 2025.