The Marvel Cinematic Universe recently reintroduced many characters from the Netflix Marvel shows for Daredevil: Born Again and the Punisher revival. Names like Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones and Jason R. Moore's Curtis Hoyle ignited a lot of excitement among Marvel fans. It seems there may still be more of these exciting additions, with one fan favourite from The Punisher might be next to rejoin.
Actress Amber Rose Revah, who played Homeland Security agent Dinah Madani across two seasons of the show's Netflix run, recently posted a photo of her character wielding a gun on Instagram with no caption or context. The photo was from an iconic fight scene between Dinah and Krista Dumont, a psychiatrist from the show who had compassion for military veterans.
Unsurprisingly, the post sparked immediate speculation in the comments section. The Punisher and its core characters are in a state of momentum within the MCU's street-level universe.
With both a Punisher Special Presentation and Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 arriving on Disney+ this year, fans were quick to connect the dots. Madani's history with Frank Castle and the CIA role she stepped into at the end of the Netflix series make her a natural fit for either project.
The timing alone makes it hard to view the actress's post as random. Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 premieres on Disney+ on March 24, running concurrently with the events of the Punisher Special Presentation, which is also set to release later in the year. It would be such a big coincidence that the actress chose this period to share a photo of her character after all these years, just for fun.
How Could Dinah Madani Make Her MCU Return?
Dinah Madani is not a character from Marvel Comics. She was created specifically for Netflix's The Punisher as a foil and eventual ally to Frank Castle. An Iranian-American Homeland Security agent who served in Kandahar before returning to New York, Madani opens Season 1 investigating the death of her partner, Ahmad Zubair, in Afghanistan. That investigation pulls her directly into Frank Castle's orbit and a massive government conspiracy.
In that season, viewers find out that Zubair was murdered during the illegal Operation Cerberus, a black-ops program run by CIA Director of Covert Operations William Rawlins, with Frank's former Marine friend Billy Russo complicit in the cover-up.
Madani uncovers the conspiracy piece by piece, at a huge cost. After Russo kills her partner, Sam Stein, and shoots Madani in the head, she somehow survives.
She returned in Season 2 to lead the hunt for Russo, who escaped from a hospital with no memory of his crimes, aided by his manipulative psychiatrist, Krista Dumont. Madani becomes obsessed with serving justice, which defines her character.
By the season's end, she throws Dumont out of a third-story window, Castle kills Russo, and Madani leaves Homeland Security behind to join the CIA. Madani's intense arc is enough to conclude that she still has a lot to offer.
If she's indeed going to return to the MCU, the Punisher Special Presentation is the most obvious landing spot. The roughly one-hour Disney+ special stars Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle alongside returning Netflix cast member Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle. Marvel Studios has kept most of the plot under wraps, but set photos point to newcomer villain crime boss Ma Gnucci, who has never been seen in live-action.
With the show potentially involving a notorious crime kingpin like Ma Gnucci, it won't be surprising if the CIA gets involved at some point in the plot. Madani is a CIA operative now, so it’s only natural that she gets a piece of the action. There's also the possibility she surfaces in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, another world in which where a CIA agent would slot in without friction.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
