One batch. Two batch. Penny and dime. Frank Castle, the most determined anti-hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is getting his own solo Netflix series in Marvel’s The Punisher. Set sometime after the events of Daredevil, and presumably The Defenders, the series follows Frank Castle — played by Jon Bernthal of The Walking Dead fame — as he’s pulled back into the pursuit of the people and institutions that created him.
For those eager to binge Frank Castle’s journey of vengeance, the 13-episode first season will premiere on Netflix on November 17. That’s just in time for Thanksgiving, so feel free to pass out from all that tryptophan while Frank Castle does what he does best.
Although most MCU fans know him from Season 2 of Daredevil, the Punisher initially debuted in comics, in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #129 by Gerry Conway in 1974. Initially a straight-up villain of Spider-Man, and a character Conway didn’t think would be more than “second-tier,” the Punisher grew in popularity throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. The Punisher’s popularity dipped in the mid-‘90s, when the X-Men were the most popular characters on the block, but the Punisher resurged at the turn of the century when Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, best known as the team behind Preacher, wrote a 12-issue series for Marvel’s new and edgy Marvel Knights imprint.
The Punisher has appeared in live-action before Daredevil, too. In 1989, Dolph Lundgren starred as Frank Castle in The Punisher, which for all its faults is a fun midnight movie if you’re in the mood. In 2004, Thomas Jane starred opposite John Travolta in The Punisher directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. In 2008, a planned sequel morphed into a reboot, with Lexi Alexander in the director’s chair and Ray Stevenson in the role of Frank Castle. Although Punisher: War Zone was a commercial failure, the movie has remained a cult favorite.
Today, the Punisher continues to be a mega-influential and popular character that is sometimes at the center of some controversies. Nevertheless, Marvel fans are in for a treat when The Punisher drops on Netflix.
Marvel’s The Punisher premieres November 17 on Netflix.
