Why don’t we get to see more of Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again? Reasons explored

Disney's Daredevil: Born Again has so far checked the most amazing boxes when it comes to inspirations from Marvel Comics. From a Bullseye featuring in costume to the introduction of Muse, in a costume that's eerily similar to the one in comics, the series has been a treat so far. However, there might be one area that is not being explored in as much depth as it could be.

Season 1, Episode 4 of Disney's Daredevil gave fans the most awaited revelation with the reintroduction of Frank Castle's Punisher into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We meet The Punisher again when Matt Murdock has a conversation with him regarding his iconography popping up on several New York Police Department officers as well as on crime scenes.

However, Matt and Frank's conversation, rather than being a starting point for fans to see more of The Punisher, resulted in the opposite. There has been no appearance of The Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again since their conversation.

Here are some reasons why The Punisher might be absent in Daredevil: Born Again.

The Punisher Missing in Action in Daredevil: Born Again: Reasons explored

Where did we leave The Punisher before Daredevil: Born Again

The last time we met The Punisher before Disney's Daredevil was in Netflix's The Punisher series. The series was a deep dive into Castle's psyche and his decline from a man surrounded by friends and family to the extremely paranoid and isolated Frank Castle that we meet in Daredevil: Born Again.

Castle's isolation is a measure of his own design. The Netflix series does a deep dive into The Punisher's journey and his 'mission' to kill criminals, to the point where he pushed away each and every one of his support systems. After killing the criminals responsible for his family's death in Season 1, Netflix's Punisher even tried to lead a normal life in Season 2 but soon started questioning if he even deserved to have one. Nevertheless, the series ended with Castle in a mass shootout, killing an entire gang meetup that he himself organized. Frank Castle also rejected an offer from the NYPD to work for them and instead continued fighting on his own.

The Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again is still on his mission, believing in his own brand of punishment for criminals. Frank's home base, as we see it during the conversation, carried ample proof that The Punisher was still on his mission. An unshaven, unkempt Castle had a board full of pictures and notes on criminals and a wall full of armory and tech.

Why is there no sign of The Punisher on Daredevil: Born Again since Episode 4?

Episode 4 of Daredevil: Born Again featured The Punisher when Matt goes to him to get some advice after Hector Ayala's murder. This conversation soon turns heated when Frank tries to push Matt into accepting that he's still angry about Foggy and that he's resisting an intense urge to be more violent than ever. However right Frank might've been about Matt, as he soon comes back as Daredevil, there have been no more appearances of The Punisher since this episode.

One of the possible reasons behind this might be the fact that even though Frank was completely convinced that Matt was just like him, the Daredevil would come back soon, and Murdock held his stance. Matt disagreed with Castle's capital way of fighting crime. According to Matt, Frank has gone down so far in his mission and his isolation that he's lost all semblance of who he was and who his family was.

Castle tells Matt that he must hear Foggy in his head constantly, just like Castle hears his son, telling him to kill the criminals, to get revenge, and to never stop. No part of him appears to realize that his son was an innocent child and would never say that.

Episode 4 of Daredevil: Born Again might have been an attempt at portraying just how far gone Frank Castle is. The Frank Castle that we last saw in Netflix's The Punisher is not the same one we see now. Working out of isolation for so long, even during the blip, Frank Castle has embodied more of The Punisher and lost touch with the person Frank Castle.

However, the trailer of Daredevil: Born Again did feature The Punisher with shorter hair, without a beard, fighting alongside Matt Murdock's Daredevil. So, it is safe to say that this is not the last we've seen of Jon Bernthal, and he might be playing a much larger role in the upcoming episode.

Outside the screen, Marvel is also set to release a special presentation for The Punisher, which Jon Bernthal himself is co-writing. So, Frank Castle's appearance in Daredevil: Born Again could even be a segue into the Punisher spinoff that takes place somewhere around the Daredevil timeline.

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