Marvel and Netflix to produce ‘The Punisher’ TV show!

As part of their continued efforts to dominate every aspect of our media consumption, Marvel and Netflix have greenlit a series starring The Punisher, with Jon Bernthal reprising his role as Frank Castle from the critically acclaimed second season of Daredevil.

Entertainment Weekly has reported that Steve Lightfoot, who has worked on Hannibal and Casualty, will assume the role of showrunner for this program, acting as writer and executive producer.

At the minute, there’s no word on when the series will be released; with The Defenders expected to air in 2017, it’s likely that The Punisher won’t be arriving on Netflix until at least 2018. (Though there’s not been any official confirmation, however, it is certainly possible that Frank Castle will be appearing in The Defenders in some capacity.)

I’m… cautiously optimistic about this, I have to say. At the minute, I’m only halfway through Daredevil Season 2 (real life obligations have been getting in the way) but I’ve really enjoyed Jon Bernthal’s portrayal of Frank Castle so far. He does a great job of imbuing the character with the sense that he’s a real force of nature; at the same time, though, I’ve been really impressed by how Frank was humanised, and depicted in such a way that we could still sympathise with him.

However, I don’t know how well this would translate to putting Frank onscreen as a main character - what sort of arc is given to an anti hero? Surely we wouldn’t see him renounce his ways, but I don’t know that showing him slide deeper into violence and darkness would be the best way to handle the character. I’m also quite curious as to who his supporting cast would be; does the Punisher even have friends?

But! I am far from an expert on the character. I imagine there are plenty of people who will explain to me, at length, why I’m wrong to have any doubts at all - and I’m actively looking forward to seeing Marvel prove me wrong, and demonstrating once again that they’re the best there is at what they do.

Related:

Agent Carter Season One Retrospective

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD and the Problem of Priorities

Marvel announces ‘Cloak and Dagger’ TV series

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