In an exclusive interview with EW, Winderbaum revealed that Bernthal will co-writer the Special Presentation with Reinaldo Marcus Green, who will also direct it. Additionally, according to THR, the Special Presentation is expected to stream on Disney Plus in 2026.
“It’s like a shotgun blast of a story, but also has all the pathos and emotion that you want out of a Frank Castle story. It’s so exciting,” said Winderbaum of the project.
Green and Bernthal previously worked together on the six-episode HBO miniseries We Own the Night.
Bernthal is a generational actor. He’s incredible what he brings to all the roles he plays, but particularly Frank Castle. And he’s a great writer. He knows the character inside and out…. Also, I love Punisher, but I love Jon’s Punisher in particular. The idea that he’s in the MCU and can bring that to the greater universe, especially the more grounded street-level stuff, is a huge opportunity and, as a fan, the greatest thing ever.
Shortly after the news hit, Bernthal posted a picture of the cover of The Punisher #53, the first of a seven-part arc entitled “The Final Days.” Published in 1991, “The Final Days”, written by Mike Baron, saw Castle tangle with Wilson Fisk.
The Punisher project will join Werewolf By Night (2022) and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) under the Marvel Studios Special Presentation banner. The two projects–which had runtimes of 55 minutes and 45 minutes, respectively–while standalone, also positioned the characters for further adventures, though Jack and Ted’s excellent adventures have yet to be explored. It’s possible that the new Punisher project could pave the way for Castle’s next appearance, whether that be in a film or in a new ssteeaming season of The Punisher on D+.
In May 2024, Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, explained that things had changed behind the scenes in the way Marvel Studios developed and released its streaming series. “We were already, as of two years ago, adapting our process from being, you know, fill the service as fast as possible no matter what, to a more considered approach,” Winderbaum said in an interview with Variety. Less than a year later, the results of that “considered approach” are ruffling fans’ feathers.
Over the past week, it was revealed that a pair of LONG-gestating streaming series, Nova and the Danai Gurira-led Okoye spinoff, were among multiple projects that the studio had either delayed indefinitely or scrapped entirely as Marvel Television pursues a more traditional approach to cheating its series. Now, Winderbaum has given some insight into what considerations are being given to the projects Marvel will move forward with in the future.
“I think it’s ‘linear series potential,’” said Winderbaum, referencing a shift to a far more traditional approach to producing television. “As we develop things for the future, I think they’re going to be designed to be multiple seasons, have more of a pattern, and be able to be released annually.”
Winderbaum‘s comments come as cameras prepare to roll a second season of Daredevil: Born Again just as the first season launches on D+. His comments also may well explain the delays to projects such as Nova and Strange Academy, which insiders believe the studio will eventually greenlight for production: until the creative teams can outline multiple seasons of the series, the studio may be content to hold off.
That plan, however, could eventually mean a shortage in content which wouldn’t be ideal even as Disney seeks to reduce the output of content from its major studios. There is good news on that front, though, as Winderbaum reveals that a pair of previously well-received streaming series could be revisited for second seasons. Though nothing is set in stone, both Agatha All Along and Hawkeye are under consideration for future seasons.
I really like the idea of two shows a year, especially because we are developing more than we make. We used to treat the shows like the features where we’re gonna make a show and that’s it, we’re going to hit a release date, hell or high water. Well, it’s hard to do for a two hour feature, it’s even harder to do for, six, seven, eight, nine hours. So now we have a more traditional approach.
-Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum
“A show like Agatha, to me, is concept based. Yes, a second season for sure is something that we would want to do, but let’s not rush it. Let’s get the right idea and then make it,” said Winderbaum of another batch of episodes of Agatha All Along.
Winderbaum’s comments on a potential second season of Agatha All Along are certainly surprising given co-star Patti LuPone‘s comments to the contrary. Even series star Kathryn Hahn, who made it clear she’s not down with playing the character, wasn’t able to confirm whether or not a follow-up season was in store, saying “we’dhave to let the powers that be make those decisions.”
“Hawkeye is another one that feels like you can make a second season of that show because it’s Christmas, because it’s Clint and Kate,” said Winderbaum. “You can kind of revisit it whenever, and we’re looking for opportunities to do that.” And with a shortage of projects known to be in the queue, the studio may be reaching into its quiver for Season 2 sooner rather than later.
Now, even as rumors fly around actors Marvel may be considering for the role of Richard Rider, Nova is once again grounded. According to Deadline, Marvel Television has paused the development of multiple streaming series, including Nova.
To that end, new details about Nova were shared by insider Daniel Richtman, who claimed that the series would see Rider rebuilding the Nova Corps after Thanos’ decimated it prior to the events of Avengers: Infinity War. Richtman also revealed that Rider’s team, the ensemble referenced by Winderbaum, would be made up of Sam Alexander and a handful of original characters created for the D+ series.
Interestingly, both Deadline and studio insider Jeff Sneider were bullish on Nova still making it to the screen, claiming that the series is simply delayed while the studio revamps its process.
After being delayed by roughly one year, Marvel Studios most highly-anticipated streaming series to date, Daredevil: Born Again, will finally debut on Disney Plus on March 4th. Like most, if not all, of Marvel’s streaming projects, the Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio-led revival of Netflix’s Daredevil will open up with a two-episode premier; however, according to a new press release, that won’t be the only time fans will be able double dip.
As part of its coverage of D+’s March release schedule, What’s On Disney Plus revealed that in addition to the two-episode opener, a pair of episodes of Daredevil: Born Again (Episodes 5 and 6) will stream on March 25th.
Current 'DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN' Release Schedule (Eps 1-6):
Episodes 1-2: March 4 Episode 3: March 11 Episode 4: March 18 Episodes 5-6: March 25 pic.twitter.com/AXzRQRDfUn
In Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
-Official Synopsis, Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again
The final three episodes of the nine-eposode first season won’t roll out until April, so it’s not yet clear if the series will also wrap with a two-episode finale. Whatever the case, Daredevil: Born Again joins Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man as projects that have bucked the trend of releasing individual episodes following the series debut.
“It is, honestly, so early,” Moore told EW when asked about the online buzz. “We’ve had a couple of conversations with Ryan Coogler, our filmmaker who’s coming back, but he’s finishing up his film.“
Moore then went out of his way to make it clear that despite the abundance of rumors circulating about Black Panther 3, the studio has not begun work on the film and won’t be for some time.
“We are still figuring out again exactly what [the next] Avengers is going to be, so we haven’t had any real story conversations,” Moore explained. “I know there’s been a lot of chatter online about casting and villains. None of that’s true. We just haven’t gotten there yet, to be honest, but I am very excited to start those conversations hopefully this year.”
The truth is, there’s no truth to those rumors. Never say never to anything, we haven’t really had a lot of creative conversations with Ryan Coogler yet, because he’s finishing his film Sinners, which comes out this year. We’ll get into it later this year, but everything you read online is not true, if for no other reason than we just haven’t started.
-Nate Moore via Comic Book
When pressed further about the studio’s willingness to recast the role of T’Challa, Moore doubled downvon his previous claims without closing the door to the possibility. “We don’t know what the story is, so I couldn’t tell you whether or not we’re open to recasting. It certainly wasn’t our instinct for Wakanda Forever,” said Moore. “I’ll never say never to anything, but it’s too early to talk about any of that stuff. We have to figure out what the story’s going to be.”
With Coogler still working on his script, it can be inferred from Moore‘s comments that Black Panther 3 might not be ready for theaters until after Avengers: Secret Wars. Of course, that’s not going to stop the rumors from flying but it’s good to have someone from the studio provide a little clarity on where things stand with the anticipated project.
The trailer also provides a first look at the film’s villain, Galactus, played by Ralph Ineson. It’s safe to say this take is far more comic accurate than the cosmic fart cloud seen in 2005’s Fantastic Four.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald,Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
-Official Synopsis for The Fantastic: Four First Steps
According to Jeff “The In” Sneider, Babygirl star Harris Dickinson is among those being a considered for the role of Scott Summers, aka Cyclops.
Even as he shared the rumors, Sneider was careful to point out that his information should be taken with a grain of salt and that Dickinson was in no way locked into the role. In that sense, perhaps the most important take away then isn’t Dickinson’s name but rather his age and relative notoriety. While the actor is a talented up and comer, he’s hardly a household name just yet, suggesting the studio will be searching for such actors to fill out its roster of X-Men.
Whether it’s Dickinson or another young star in the role, X-Men fans will cling to hope that the next iteration of Cyclops is not done as dirty as James Marsden and Tye Sheridan‘s versions were by Fox. Since the earliest days of the team’s comic book adventures, Cyclops has been a central and often controversial character. Here’s hoping that Lesslie‘s script draws influence from the comics and not Fox’s poor choices with the character.
Assembled by Thanos as he massacred half of the inhabitants of each planet he conquered, the Black Order served the Mad Titan in his efforts to collect the Infinity Stones. Also referred to as The Children of Thanos, Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian appeared in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, while thier “siblings”, Gamora and Nebula, played larger roles in the Infinity Saga and beyond.
Thanos’ children were adopted (read abducted) orphans (read trophies) from the civilizations he conquered. Given his status as one of the most feared and powerful beings in the universe, it would be foolish to believe that he only conquered six planets and took only six trophies. Indeed Avengers: Endgame briefly showed Nebula and Gamora’s attack of the planet Korbin; assuming Thanos is a creature of habit, it would follow that at least one Korbinite could be counted among his “children.” And as much as I wish this was an article about Beta Ray Bill, it isn’t; it is, however, about a pair of characters who served Thanos in the pages of Marvel Comics and may just be set to appear in the Marvel Television Streaming series Ironheart.
Created by Jim Starlin and first appearing in Iron Man #55, Roclite siblings Gh’Ree and R’Hos Blood–better known as the Blood Brothers–are massive aliens who originally worked for Thanos. The duo evolved over the years and were interesting enough to make 71 appearances but are still certainly considered minor characters that might not be on many fans radars…but what if they should be?
Headlining the article “Connecting Imaginary Dots” speaks for itself and I’ll let socmed and message boards have their fun; however, an IMDB listing for Ironheart is interesting enough to ponder if the Blood Brothers might somehow have found their way into the upcoming D+ series.
Zoe Terakes, who joined the cast of Ironheart in 2022, is listed on IMDB as “Blood Sibling.” That’s it. That’s the evidence. But it’s certainly worth considering if the MCU’s iteration of the Blood Brothers may play a role in Riri Williams’ origin story.
While it’s true that the majority of Ironheart will take place post-Riri’s appearance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it will also dip into her origins, including (probably) why she was building a Stark-esque suit in the first place.
Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Television’s Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne)—a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka “The Hood” (Anthony Ramos).
-Official Synopsis for Marvel Television’s Ironheart
Ironheart boasts an incredibly impressive cast. Alden Ehrenreich is widely believed to have been cast as Ezekiel Stane, the son of Jeff Bridges‘ Iron Man villain, Obadiah Stane. Manny Montana (Cousin John) and Shea Couleé (Slug) look to be members of the crew of Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robins with Couleé likely a version of Marvel Comics Ulysses Lugman and Montana a version of John King, the actual cousin of Robbins. And then there’s Lyric Ross, who looks to be taking on the role of Riri’s best friend, Natalie, who, in the comics, was shot and killed in front of Riri when she was 13. But, what if…she wasn’t shot in the MCU but rather killed by the Children of Thanos as they invaded Earth?.
Sure, Thanos’ invasion of Earth was all about getting the Time Stone from Doctor Strange but it’s absolutely worth remembering that Chicago was home to Victor Timely for a period of time in the 1860s and might otherwise, for myriad reasons, be a place an alien looking to conquer Earth might send some bad ass Blood Siblings.
As always, if you’re betting, take the field over this theory. This isn’t inside info; it’s not a rumor worth spreading; it’s just tossing out an idea based on limited info. And even if the Blood Brothers do appear in Ironheart as the Blood Siblings, there are plenty of other options for why and how they are there. So the moral of the story is…Mephisto.
Ironheart is set to debut (finally) on D+ on June 24th.
Though cameras haven’t begun rolling quite yet, Marvel Studios has a busy year ahead. While the biggest news will almost certainly center around the two films headed into production this year (Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4), a trio of streaming series are also slated for filming. The Paul Bettany-led Vision and Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again are both reportedly getting underway in February, keeping Marvel Television busy for the first half of the new year. Next up on the list is a series that has come together quickly after being put on the back burner for a couple of years.
According to Jeff “The In” Sneider, Marvel has begun to narrow down it’s list of potential candidates to bring the Human Rocket to life in the MCU. At or near the top of that list, according to the longtime Hollywood insider, is It Ends with Us and 1923 star Brandon Sklenar.
Recent reports indicated that Nova will introduce the classic Marvel Comics’ villain Annihilus and pit the Bug-Lord against a young team of Nova Corpsmen. Given Bernero‘s background, which includes Criminal Minds, the NBC crime drama Third Watch and Crossing Lines, a crime drama that focuses on an elite team of special investigators, it seems reasonable to assume that while Rider will be the series’ central figure, the other Corps members will feature prominently in the action.
With the studio looking to lock down an actor for the role of Richard Rider now, it’s possible that production could get underway in the next six months or so. That said, it’s been believed for some time that Nova will not be included in the Multiverse Saga and won’t stream on D+ until 2027.
Fresh off his performance as the Machiavellian Macrinus in Gladiator II, Denzel Washington may be preparing to play another agent of chaos. In November, Washington casually revealed that writer/director Ryan Coogler had created a role for him in the as-yet-undated third film in the Black Panther franchise. Following Washington’s reveal, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, officially announced the film was in development; however, little information about the threequel has been available…until now.
According to social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, Washington will be portraying the disruptive and devious Achebe in Black Panther 3.
Between 1998 and 2003, Christopher Priest wrote 60 issues of Black Panther for Marvel Comics. Priest’s run began with T’Challa in an interesting pinch: a girl who was a part of T’Challa’s Tomorrow Fund, an organization he founded in the United States, has been found murdered. Meanwhile, refugees flock to Wakanda’s border, led by the enigmatic Reverend Doctor Michael Ibn al-hajj Achebe. In T’Challa’s absence, Achebe makes his move to overtake Wakanda.
By introducing the Wakandan outreach center in 2018’s Black Panther, Coogler created the MCU’s equivalent of the Tomorrow Fund. Black Panther 3 could open with a scenario similar to Priest’s run that would require Shuri to leave Wakanda to investigate, leaving an opening for Achebe. Her absence, paired with the devastation from Namor’s attack, would provide the perfect scenario to allow Achebe to further destabilize Wakanda and then attempt to assume control.
Cookie Consent
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
This website uses cookies
Websites store cookies to enhance functionality and personalise your experience. You can manage your preferences, but blocking some cookies may impact site performance and services.
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
