The Punisher’s Next MCU Appearance Could Be Exactly What Fans Have Been Waiting for 10 Years to See

Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) is in the middle of a major revival in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after being pushed aside for the better part of a decade. The Punisher’s solo Netflix series was one of several Marvel shows wiped out in the late 2020s, canceled alongside Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones as Disney ended its licensing partnership with Netflix ahead of the Disney+ launch. After being put on ice, Bernthal returned to the role in the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, then headlined his own Disney+ special in The Punisher: One Last Kill, and finally stepped into theaters for the first time in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. All that in the span of two years. It’s clear the antihero is as popular as ever, and Marvel Studios could already be developing his next chapter.

According to insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios is developing a new Punisher project, with the studio reportedly weighing whether the story should take the form of a television series or a theatrical movie. Richtman has been a consistent source of accurate Marvel scoops, but the studio has issued no official confirmation of a next Punisher outing, so we should treat the project as a rumor for now. Still, depending on which direction Marvel Studios takes, the next chapter could finally deliver the Frank Castle story that fans have wanted since Bernthal first put on the skull a decade ago.

Can Marvel Studios Release an R-Rated Punisher Movie in Theaters?

For most of its existence, Marvel Studios has built its theatrical output around the safe PG-13 rating, leaving anything more graphic for outside partnerships. That arrangement is exactly what led to Frank Castle’s Netflix run, developed alongside Marvel Television with a TV-MA rating that allowed for the blood and brutality that’s intrinsic to the character. In recent years, Marvel Studios has been experimenting more, having released its first and only R-rated theatrical film in Deadpool & Wolverine. That project went on to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, hopefully proving that the studio can invest in more varied tones and styles. Marvel Studios has also grown more willing to push past PG-13 on Disney+. Daredevil: Born Again earned a TV-MA rating, making it the first Marvel Studios series to carry that label on the platform. The Punisher: One Last Kill went even further, delivering the kind of hard-edged violence that fans could only find in the original Netflix run.

The fact that Frank Castle is so brutal is likely the source of Marvel Studios’ hesitation over committing to a full theatrical release. A theatrical Punisher story sanded down to PG-13 would strip away everything that makes the Punisher resonate with fans, while an R-rating would limit the potential audience while risking diluting the brand that Marvel Studios tries to build for four-quadrants. A television series carries none of that same risk. Streaming projects cost significantly less to produce than a theatrical release, and a Disney+ format lets Marvel Studios preserve the TV-MA rating. At the same time, the Punisher has also never been more popular within the MCU, and even if cinema is riskier, it can also bring a lot more income than streaming. Whatever the path they follow, we just hope the MCU will keep Frank Castle as violent and uncompromising as the character has always been on the page.