In just a few days, the Punisher will return. After making his official MCU return in the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) will be getting his own spotlight with Punisher: One Last Kill, a 60-minute special coming straight to Disney Plus on May 12. But since you’ve still got a few days, now really is the perfect time to binge the two-season Punisher series that originally premiered on Netflix before making its way over to Disney Plus.
The Punisher’s story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe really begins with season 2 of Daredevil in early 2016. During that season, Frank acts as a one-man hit squad, brutally killing members of two rival gangs after his family was killed during a shootout between their members. This continues until Daredevil (Charlie Cox) intervenes, and the Punisher is ultimately tried and convicted for his crimes. He later escapes from prison, and the season ends with him donning his classic skull costume and burning down his family home, confirming his mantle as the Punisher.
If you have time to squeeze it in, season 2 of Daredevil is an excellent introduction to the Punisher, especially in contrast to the non-lethal Daredevil. Episode 3, “New York’s Finest,” is especially great, and features an intense philosophical debate between Daredevil and the Punisher over the merits of lethal force. However, the real test of Netflix’s take on the Punisher came a year later, with the 2017 premiere of The Punisher.
The Punisher begins with Frank killing off the last few people involved in the death of his family and then giving up his vigilante alter ego. A few months later, however, he meets a former NSA analyst named Micro (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who tells Frank about a broader conspiracy surrounding the death of his family. This motivates him to become the Punisher once again.
Season 1 of The Punisher proved that, despite his brutal methods, Frank Castle was a character you could root for all on his own. Much of that is a credit to Bernthal’s acting. While the character is violent and stoic, there’s no question about his pain and humanity, which is the core of the Punisher even more so than the guns he wields and the bloodshed he inflicts. It’s also what’s made Bernthal the definitive Punisher after multiple actors and directors tried and mostly failed to adapt the character on film.
The only major shortcoming of The Punisher season 1 is that it retreads some of what we saw in Daredevil season 2. While the conspiracy surrounding his family’s murder is an interesting story with plenty of action, you can tell that the writers are also re-introducing the character for anyone who hadn’t watched Daredevil.
Fortunately, season 2 managed to give us something different.
The Punisher season 2 begins with Frank laying low in the midwest, until a bar room shootout leads to him protecting a young girl named Amy. From there, a story unfolds which sees Frank tangling with white supremacists and Russian gangsters. He also faces off against an especially foreboding villain named John Pilgrim (Josh Stewart), an adaptation of the comic book character Mennonite, but changed so as not to tie him to any particular religion.
Season 2 of The Punisher proved Frank Castle is bigger than just his origin story. The plot casts him as a fatherly protector and shows he’s willing to put his life on the line for something other than vengeance. Moving the story from New York to the Midwest was also a nice change of pace that proved the Punisher works as a character in any setting.
Unfortunately, just a month after the debut of The Punisher’s second season in Jan. 2019, the series was canceled, along with all the other Netflix Marvel shows. This ultimately paved the way for Bernthal’s Punisher to be a greater part of the MCU, including his return in the first season of Daredevil: Born Again and his upcoming role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
While I’m excited for both of these appearances, there is a part of me that assumes they will both serve as yet another introduction to this character, as One Last Kill will be his first solo outing on Disney Plus and Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be his first time on the big screen. I’m sure both of these will be great, but I long for the day when Hollywood stops introducing Bernthal’s Punisher and starts telling some other stories with him — something that his Netflix series, particularly season 2, did especially well.
The Punisher is streaming on Disney Plus.