Summary
- Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, is set to return to the MCU in Daredevil: Born Again, and fans are already speculating on where else he could show up.
- Some fans believe that Armor Wars, starring Don Cheadle as War Machine, would be an ideal project for The Punisher’s appearance, and artist Arkin Tyagi created fan art imagining Punisher in War Machine-like armor.
- Armor Wars, originally announced as a Disney+ show but later changed to an MCU movie, will likely explore Rhodey/War Machine’s journey after the revelation that the version of him seen in recent years was a Skrull impostor. The movie’s release date is uncertain due to potential strikes.
New Armor Wars fan art imagines what it would look like if The Punisher joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. Despite getting his show canceled on Netflix, Frank Castle is making his return to the MCU as Jon Bernthal is set to reprise the role in Daredevil: Born Again with Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio. This will be the first time Bernthal shares the screen again with Cox and D’Onofrio after his various arcs with them in Daredevil season 2.
While very little is known about Punisher’s return in Daredevil: Born Again, the MCU audience is already curious about where Bernthal may appear after his gig on the Disney+ series. One project that some are looking at as a potentially ideal place for Bernthal’s Punisher after Daredevil: Born Again is Armor Wars, starring Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine.
Popular artist Arkin Tyagi recently shared his excitement about Punisher’s MCU return by releasing new artwork of what Frank could look like with War Machine-like armor if he was in Armor Wars. The artist stated that the look is inspired by Punisher’s armor from the comics, hoping that he gets to wear something similar in the MCU.
What We Know About The MCU’s Armor Wars Movie So Far
Initially, Marvel Studios announced Armor Wars in December 2020 as a future Disney+ show with Cheadle set to star, making it his first solo project during his MCU tenure. However, those plans got massively changed when Armor Wars was changed from being a show to an MCU movie, as Marvel Studios wanted to get “the story told the right way.” Yassir Lester, who was announced to write the show, is still attached to Armor Wars, now as a screenwriter, although to this date, no director has officially boarded the project.
Even though plot details are being kept under wraps, Secret Invasion is the perfect setup for Armor Wars, as it was revealed that the War Machine that the MCU audience had been following for the last few years was actually a Skrull. Armor Wars will now likely focus on Rhodey trying to find his place in the world again, while also establishing how long he had been kidnapped. There is a strong possibility that the real Rhodey doesn’t even know that Tony Stark died in Avengers: Endgame, which is bound to be a huge emotional arc for him to go through.
It’s still unclear when Marvel Studios is actually planning on releasing Armor Wars and whether or not it will actually be part of Phase 6 at this point. Given the ongoing Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, it wouldn’t be a shock if Armor Wars is saved until Phase 7 at the earliest. Hopefully, whenever Marvel Studios can share new details about Armor Wars, the wait will be worth it.
Arkin Tyagi/Instagram
