Which character is facing The Punisher in Disney+'s special presentation set leaks? Speculation explored

As The Punisher special presentation for Disney+ is filming, some set images have leaked online. One of these leaked images shows glimpses of the central, or one of the antagonists of the special presentation. The said antagonist is a wheelchair user, making many believe that we will finally get crime boss Isabella Carmela Magdalena "Ma" Gnucci, or Ma Gnucci from Marvel Comics.

Her inclusion in The Punisher special makes sense, considering her entire family was massacred in The Punisher Season 1's episode 1. The loss of her family is what put Frank in Ma's crosshairs in the comics as well. But, like always, Frank turned the tables on Ma.

The Punisher's Ma Gnucci's origin explained:

As mentioned before, Ma Gnucci lost her family in an attack by Frank Castle, and Ma swore revenge. Once, some of her guards chased Castle into the Central Park Zoo, and Ma Gnucci also soon reached there to get her revenge. But Frank surprised everyone by setting the animals free and setting them on his attackers. Ma suffered the most brutal fate in this attack.

Her arms and legs were torn off by polar bears, an experience she survived. This loss only enraged her further, and she announced a ten-million-dollar reward for anyone who killed Frank. But Castle goes on the offensive and burns down Ma's mansion with her inside, killing her. We can expect this plotline to play out in the Disney+ special.

However, some differences are noticeable in the leaked set image. It looks like Ma does have her hand for now. It might be the case that in the MCU, Ma Gnucci is one of Kingpin's collaborators, and Frank tries to kill her to weaken Wilson Fisk's oppressive mayoral regime.

But it is important to note that for now, we don't have many details about the plot of the special presentation, which is expected to be released sometime in 2026.

What do we know about The Punisher Special?

As of now, we don't know the plot of the special presentation. All we know about it is that it will follow the events of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1. If you remember, Born Again Season 1 ended with Mayor Wilson Fisk emerging victorious. He has successfully enacted a curfew, banned masked heroes, and imprisoned all his opponents, including Castle.

However, Frank manages to escape his confinement in the post-credit scene of the Born Again Season 1 finale, setting the stage for The Punisher special. As of now, all we know is that Jon Bernthal, who also plays the titular character, is one of the project's writers, making it the actor's writing debut. Here's what the actor told Collider's Steve Weintraub at CinemaCon this year:

“I've said it a million times: Frank is in my bones, is in my heart. I care about him. In discussing what this thing could be and this sort of version of Frank that I really felt that the audience was hungry for, that the military community was hungry for it, the first responder community, the comic book fans, they were really hungry for it. I presented that version to them, and they encouraged me. They encouraged me to keep coming to the table. As we were talking with different writers, the ideas that we were coming up with started to resonate, and I think they saw how much they resonated with me. I got a great group of vets that I work with. One in particular, my friend Nick, he's just been incredible. I hope that it goes alright. I don't like talking about these things because it's a little bit of bark before there's a bite, you know? I'm honored and I'm grateful. It's an incredible group of people that we're assembling."

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Are you excited to meet Ma Gnucci? Catch The Punisher Special next year.

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