Another day, another Marvel rumor. But, based on everything that’s been announced recently, this one has a very good chance of coming true. The Punisher is coming back, and Jon Bernthal is set to reprise the role, with the new project set to be announced at D23. Coming courtesy of Twitter user Marvel Updates, the rumor claims that not only will Bernthal reprise the role of Frank Castle for Disney+, but that the series will be rated TV-MA.

While this information is unsubstantiated, considering that we now know that Charlie Cox’s Daredevil will be receiving his own series, and with the first two seasons of The Punisher now streaming on Disney+, it stands to reason that Jon Bernthal’s Punisher could be called back into action soon. Both Netflix series Daredevil and The Punisher were hugely popular with fans, who have since waited patiently for them to be brought back and thrown into the MCU fray.

Of course, this is not the first time that rumors have circulated regarding the return of The Punisher, with one claiming that the character would star in his own movie, while another claimed that Frank Castle would appear in a series on Hulu. Still, the idea of Charlie Cox reprising the role of Matt Murdock AKA Daredevil seemed like a pipe dream until we saw him show up to help Peter Parker out of a legal jam in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle was first introduced in the second season of Daredevil before branching off on his own adventure in The Punisher back in 2017. The series follows Castle as he continues his violent vendetta as a vigilante, using lethal methods to fight crime. The series, along with the rest of the Netflix/Marvel roster, was canceled after two seasons in 2019.

Jon Bernthal is Open to Reprising the Role of The Punisher ... on One Condition

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Marvel

For what it’s worth, Bernthal himself has stated that he would reprise the role of The Punisherso long as things were kept grim and gritty.

"So I was really grateful, respectful and weary of the places where that role took me and the world in which I had to live in,” the actor said last year. “That being said, that’s where that character needs to be. It needs to be a level of darkness. I think if there’s any let up on that character, you do a disservice to the character, to every iteration of the character, to every comic book that’s come before, and to all of the unbelievable fans of the character. This character means so much to people in the military. So like I said before, it’s not about whether you do the character; it’s about whether you can do it right, and I’m only interested in doing it right."

Fans of The Punisher do not have to wait too much longer to find out whether there is anything to these ongoing rumors, with D23 Expo 2022 due to be held on September 9-11, 2022, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

The first two seasons of The Punisher are now streaming on Disney+.