THE PUNISHER Special Presentation Starts Filming Soon and His Main Villain Possibly Revealed

After making his official MCU debut in Daredevil: Born Again, Jon Bernthal is getting ready to headline his own Punisher Special Presentation on Disney+, and things are gearing up fast.

According to Nexus Point News, production on the one-off project kicks off in mid-July and will run through the first week of August in New York.

This special marks a major return for Bernthal’s take on the character, co-written by the actor himself alongside director Reinaldo Marcus Green. Frank will also cross paths with Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but this standalone chapter will give him one hell of a warm-up.

So who’s Castle up against this time? According to the report, the villain is none other than Ma Gnucci, a classic, grotesque antagonist from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s The Punisher: Welcome Back comic run.

For those unfamiliar, Ma Gnucci is a vicious mob boss whose war against Frank gets deeply personal after he wipes out her three sons. The story escalates to the point where Gnucci is mauled by polar bears, loses her limbs, and eventually gets kicked into a burning building. It’s brutal, bloody, and exactly the kind of chaos Punisher fans live for.

Bernthal seems fully aware of what the audience expects, saying: “I care very deeply about Frank, I’m really grateful that I’m getting the opportunity to tell the story that I think the fans deserve.

“We’re giving it our all and we’re trying to tell a Frank Castle story that we’re going to turn our back on the audience — it’s not going to be easy, it’s not going to be light, and I think it’s the version that this character deserves and I’m just beyond honored and grateful that we get the opportunity.”

As for how this version stacks up against the Netflix series, Bernthal added: “It’s going to be dark; Frank has no interest in breaking out the darkness. It’s not going to be easy. I don’t know if that’s the Netflix tone then that’s what it’s going to be. It will not be Punisher-lite, I promise you that.”

While Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is wrapping up production soon, this quick turnaround suggests Bernthal may jump straight from one project to the next, keeping Frank Castle right in the thick of Marvel’s street-level storytelling.

The Punisher Special Presentation is expected to hit Disney+ in 2026. Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is aiming for a March 2026 debut, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to arrive in theaters July 31, 2026.