The Punisher’s return in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Daredevil: Born Again could pay off an old tease from the MCU’s Phase 2. The Walking Dead alum Jon Bernthal was confirmed to be reprising his role of Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, on March 7, 2023, after previously portraying the antihero on Netflix’s Daredevil and The Punisher series.
He will join Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio in Daredevil: Born Again, an 18-episode Phase 5 series that will reintroduce audiences to Matt Murdock, a.k.a. Daredevil, following cameo appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Echo.
Frank Castle’s integration into the MCU proper creates the opportunity for stories to be told that couldn’t be touched in Marvel Television’s shows. This includes making direct connections to past MCU projects, and paying off some teases that viewers may have ignored or forgotten, including one that came during the MCU’s Phase 2. Following the release of Iron Man 3, the Marvel One-Shot, “All Hail the King,” featured Scoot McNairy’s Ten Rings operative, disguised as a documentary journalist, interviewing Trevor Slattery, who posed as the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. This One-Shot also included a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it tease of the MCU’s Punisher.
The Punisher’s MCU Phase 2 Connection Explained
“All Hail the King” saw Trevor Slattery incarcerated in Seagate Prison, a fictional maximum security prison off the coast of Georgia which housed other prominent MCU characters as inmates, including Luke Cage, Comanche, and Shades from Netflix’s Luke Cage series, and Justin Hammer, Tony Stark’s former business rival from Iron Man 2. Alongside them, however, were the lesser-known Guido Carboni and Luis Allegre, who could be seen standing at their cell doors in “All Hail the King.” These characters could be pivotal to Frank Castle’s origin story as the Punisher in the MCU.
In Marvel Comics, Carboni and Allegre belong to the Maggia family, a crime syndicate operating in New York with ties to organized crime across the city. It was the Maggia who had a hand in killing Frank Castle’s family, leading to him becoming the Punisher, with Allegre being one of the men who actually took part in the Massacre at Central Park. While Frank was the target, his wife, daughter, and son lost their lives to this brutal attack, starting him on his campaign against crime in New York, so the fact that Allegre and Carboni appeared in “All Hail the King” means that the Punisher’s MCU debut was teased all the way back in Phase 2.
Will Daredevil: Born Again Tell Frank Castle’s Origin Story Again?
Frank Castle’s backstory has already been told in detail throughout his appearances in Daredevil and The Punisher, so it’s possible that Marvel Studios would choose to side-step repeating this storyline. This sort of introduction has been proven to work with the likes of Spider-Man. Bernthal will be reprising the role of Frank Castle in Daredevil: Born Again, which will be a very Daredevil-centric series, so there simply may not be time to delve into his history.
Even so, Marvel Studios could tell Castle’s origin story again, only with some MCU modifications, especially after the recent recasting of Vanessa Fisk for Daredevil: Born Again, which points to the idea that the Netflix shows occurred in another reality of the multiverse. Guido Carboni and Luis Allegre could be put front-and-center for the Massacre at Central Park, perhaps creating a direct link to the wider world of the MCU. This could also mean that Daredevil: Born Again has the chance to bring Justin Hammer back into the fold, especially if the Punisher finds himself dealing with past Seagate Prison inmates.
