Punisher Disney+ Set Photo Reveals First Look At Villain

A new set photo from Punisher production offered fans a first look at the Disney+ special's Marvel villain. Jon Bernthal's R-rated anti-hero is about to get the lion's share of the spotlight for the first time since his Netflix tenure. Frank Castle/Punisher is set to get his own Marvel Special Presentation next year, following up on the events of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1. 

The Punisher special is currently in production in New York City, with the first set photos leaking out from the Marvel Studios production. The new one-off streaming story will once again follow Bernthal's skull-cracking MCU character, although this time he is reportedly taking on a threat unlike anything he has faced before. According to reports, the series will see Punisher go up against a female crime lord, with some speculating it could be the terrifying Ma Gnucci (as seen in the Marvel comics).

Thanks to some new set photos from the Disney+ special, audiences got their first look at Punisher's new female crime lord villain. 

The images, which have quickly circulated online, show Bernthal's Punisher standing opposite a woman in a wheelchair in what looks to be a New York City street standoff. 

While it is unclear who this wheelchair-bound character is in the photos, one can easily deduce that this is Ma Gnucci, the iconic comic book crime boss from Marvel Comics. 

The Gnucci family has been teased elsewhere on the Punisher set, appearing on a restaurant sign during production, so it certainly seems that this is all leading to Ma being the special's big bad. 

The Punisher Special Presentation is set to debut on Disney+ some time next year. The one-off special will follow Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle, a no-holds-barred vigilante from the Netflix Daredevil universe, as he takes on a new criminal threat growing in New York City. The streaming special will also set up Frank's next appearance in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. 

Who Is Ma Gnucci From Punisher?

If Ma Gnucci is going to be the Punisher Special Presentation villain (as the wheelchair shown in the news set photos seems to suggest), then fans are almost surely going to have some questions about who the character is and why she is such a big deal. 

Ma "Isabella" Gnucci is a longtime Marvel Comics villain and one of the Punisher's most prominent antagonists. She debuted in March 2000 as a New York City crime boss and the matriarch of the renowned Gnucci family. 

After Frank Castle kills her sons to renounce his criminal underworld roots, Ma vows to get revenge on the Kevlar-wearing superhero. 

Following a heated battle with the Punisher at the New York Zoo, Ma is thrown into the local Polar Bear pit, where she is nearly eaten alive. This leaves her bound to a wheelchair with no arms or legs and an even more profound hate for Frank Castle.

The Gnucci family has already been featured in the Daredevil TV universe, appearing in the Punisher Netflix series where Jon Bernthal's anti-hero massacred the criminal cabal. 

Surely, this will serve as a setup for the character's 2026 Special Presentation, with Ma ready to now dole out some justice of her own and get revenge for Punisher's attack on the Gnucci clan.