When he was revealed as a prominent new character in the second season of the hit Netflix Marvel series “Daredevil,” The Punisher immediately developed a significant fan following in this corner of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. Brought to brutal life by Jon Bernthal, the vengeful and doggedly determined soldier-turned vigilante from the comics brought some much-appreciated tension in his enemy-ally relationship with Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Brian Cox).
While Bernthal has not reprised his role in any of the succeeding Marvel Netflix shows, the latest being “The Defenders” this August, he is in line to head up his own series “The Punisher,” due later this year.
And its show-runner is promising to portray Frank Castle/Punisher at “his most human” side.
The human side
Viewers of “Daredevil” season 2 were for the most part blown away by the characterization of Marvel’s most trigger-happy vigilante the Punisher as portrayed by Jon Bernthal. He had come off contrasting his style of street justice to that of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen and was able to power through obstacles to make his kills all through sheer tenacity. Steve Lightfoot, show-runner for the upcoming “Punisher” series on Netflix, means to turn the impression of the character on its head by presenting a change in his person.
While it was true that Castle/the Punisher mentioned trying to move on from the death of his family in the second season finale of “Daredevil,” Lightfoot notes that having dropped the weight of his bereavement, his whole outlook has shifted.
“You only got to see 25% of who he was, and it was the guy who was always killing,” he said. “We’re also showing the other 75% of the character, enriching him and making the human side more present.”
Still brutal
More human he may be, but Marvel and Netflix will not let the audience forget that Frank Castle is the Punisher, a soldier fighting a one-man war on crime.
One needs only to look at the latest teaser for the series. Its details are purposely sparse, merely showing Jon Bernthal as Castle stalking and killing heavily armed soldiers in the woods. For his last victim, he snaps the man’s neck while looking through the equipped body-cam and telling whoever was watching that he is coming for them.
Joining Bernthal on Marvel’s “Punisher” are other characters from the previous Netflix shows such as Karen Page (Deborah Ann Wolf) and David Liebermann/Micro (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). The producers have also revealed that Castle will be wearing his iconic skull body-armor/costume for the first time in his solo outing. No specific release date has been given for the new series, only that it will premiere on Netflix before the year is out.
