More than six months after announcing Punisher: End of Days, writer Brian Michael Bendis has confirmed his planned Marvel Comics project isn’t moving forward.
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Following in the footsteps of the 2012 miniseries Daredevil: End of Days, by Bendis, David Mack, Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkiewicz, Punisher: End of Days would have likewise told the final story of Frank Castle. “But this won’t be like a sequel,” the writer said in June, “but instead, kind of like a ‘side-quel’ with Punisher. It’s in that world with The Punisher trying to attempt his final ‘Punish.’”
However, as Bendis explained in response to a fan question on his blog, “Nothing came of it because the creators involved like myself, David Mack, Klaus Jansen or Bill S. are very busy or had moved on to other companies and we never could really find the right window or the right creators to get it going again.
“If Marvel decides to continue the project with David and others I completely support that decision,” he continued. “David had done a lot more groundwork on it and I had. I hope they pursue it … if it fits their editorial plans.”
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DC Comics announced last month that it signed a “multifaceted, multilayered” exclusive agreement with Bendis, marking his departure from Marvel after 18 years. “[N]ow that I have signed a long-term exclusive with DC comics this project, and some others that you may never have heard of, will be going the way of twilight of the superheroes,” he wrote on his blog.
The writer, who was recently hospitalized with a “surprise MRSA infection,” announced over the weekend that Invincible Iron Man #600 will be his final issue of that series. He’ll wrap up his run on The Defenders with Issue 10.