Frank Castle’s Punisher took a drastic and controversial turn during Jason Aaron, Jesús Saiz, and Paul Azaceta’s comic book run full of wild retcons when he became High Slayer of the Hand and gained supernatural abilities. Now, after the Punisher: Red Band limited series has concluded with Benjamin Percy and José Luis Soares’ ongoing Punisher run following it, there are plenty more Punisher stories to look forward to across comics, TV shows, and movies.
Indeed, it appears as if a Marvel Cinematic Universe Punisher renaissance is in order as he gradually becomes more ubiquitous. Much of this boils down to movie synergy, but it is certain to generate more hype for the character before he makes at least a couple of MCU appearances in the coming months nonetheless, particularly as Punisher’s portrayals favorably revert to his more iconic and traditional iterations.
Punisher has technically been around in the MCU since his debut in the second season of Netflix’s Daredevil TV show and his own titular Netflix show, which ran for two seasons. However, Punisher’s heyday has only begun in 2026, with fans of the character enjoying and highly anticipating all the outings he is receiving:
Therefore, the rest of spring and the first half of summer are going to be dominated by Punisher (primarily Spider-Man, to be fair, but it is impossible to ignore how many appearances Punisher will soon have alongside the wall-crawler).
It will be thrilling to experience a new story told in and around Spider-Man and Punisher’s first encounter in The Amazing Spider-Man #129, for instance, as well as another side of Punisher during the “Brand New Day” era. And, after the MCU’s Punisher: One Last Kill, it will be neat to see how Frank’s troubled psyche will take shape and what sort of state he may be in by Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Punisher played a big role in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, but his influence grew beyond Jon Bernthal’s actual appearances in-character. For instance, Mayor Wilson Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force bears Punisher’s skull insignia on its officers’ uniforms, grossly disfiguring and assimilating the anti-hero’s own questionable methodologies.
It is unfortunate that we have not gotten to see Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 yet, as it is one of the rare outings he will not have that would have made all the sense in the world. Either way, his presence in the MCU is undeniably felt, and his absence will surely make his later appearances far more rewarding.
Frank escaped AVTF captivity the last time we saw him in the MCU, but The Punisher: One Last Kill and Spider-Man: Brand New Day have already laid out a fairly predictable throughline for the character’s development. It is unknown when we will see him again after he appears in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but a Punisher revival series like Daredevil: Born Again could be fantastic, and it will be incredibly fun to see Frank interact with Spider-Man this summer, potentially with a tone that is far more akin to traditional depictions in Marvel comic book source material, despite Spider-Man and Punisher apparently already knowing each other.
The Punisher: One Last Kill premieres on Disney+ on May 12, 2026.
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Reinaldo Marcus Green
Reinaldo Marcus Green, Ross Andru, Jon Bernthal, Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr.
Frank Castle / The Punisher
The Punisher: One Last Kill is a Marvel Studios special presentation featuring Jon Bernthal’s The Punisher.