Netflix’s Marvel’s The Defenders Saga Has a New Home on Disney+ Ft. The Punisher (Pt. 5)
This article is part of the entertainment column “The Daily Bugle” DareDevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and other successful Netflix Marvel shows have shifted from Netflix to their new streaming home of Disney+. The Defenders Saga is officially canonized and fans are wondering if after Charlie Cox’s cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, are more to come by fellow Defenders? **Part Five only talks about one of the greatest vignette anti-heroes in comic book history, Frank Castle AKA The Punisher in The Punisher.**
October 21, 2022
“Do you know the difference between justice and punishment?”
After the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home with Charlie Cox’s cameo as the really good lawyer, Matt Murdock and the main villain of Hawkeye turning out to be Vincent D’Onofrio as the Kingpin. Making not just DareDevil canonized in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but all the other Netflix series including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher. It was recently announced that both Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio will not only be returning for the Echo series but with the surprise announcement of DareDevil: Born Again. Though DareDevil: Born Again will not release until Spring of 2024, Matt Murdock will team up with fellow lawyer, Jen Walters, in episode eight of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, streaming on Disney+ October 6th, 2022.
All the shows shifted to Disney+ Wednesday, March 23rd, since all of the shows are rated-MA due to violence and gore, profanity, sexually explicit themes, and intense scenes. When Disney announced they were bringing the Netflix series to their family friendly streaming service this sparked controversial problems. But no need to fear, parents must know that there are extreme changes on the parental controls. In order to access any MA rated shows you must enter your Disney+ password and for more security a four number passcode.
**Please note that it is suggested by fans that all these series should be watched in a specific order since they do all connect like every other Marvel project and each show has significant impact on one another, especially DareDevil. The order release just happens to be in chronological order, the order in which they should be watched. It includes DareDevil (season one), Jessica Jones (season one), DareDevil (season two), Luke Cage (season one), Iron Fist (season one), The Defenders (limited mini series), The Punisher (season one), Jessica Jones (season two), Luke Cage (season two), Iron Fist (season two), DareDevil (season three), The Punisher (season two), and Jessica Jones (season three).
All seasons are bingeable and streaming only on Disney+.
This article, “Marvel’s The Defenders Saga Has a New Home on Disney+ Ft. The Punisher (Pt. 5)” is the fifth part of the Defenders Saga article series. Part five only talks about and discusses one of the greatest vignette anti-heroes in comic book history, Frank Castle AKA The Punisher in The Punisher.
PREVIOUS ARTICLES
Read about DareDevil in Part One in “Marvel’s The Defenders Saga Has a New Home on Disney+ Ft. DareDevil (Pt. 1)” https://talonnews.org/810/entertainment/netflixs-marvels-the-defenders-saga-has-a-new-home-on-disney-ft-daredevil-pt-1/
Read about Jessica Jones in Part Two in “Marvel’s The Defenders Saga Has a New Home on Disney+ Ft. Jessica Jones (Pt. 2)”
Read about Luke Cage in Part Three in “Marvel’s The Defenders Saga Has a New Home on Disney+ Ft. Luke Cage (Pt. 3)”
Read about Iron Fist in Part Four in “Marvel’s The Defenders Saga Has a New Home on Disney+ Ft. Iron Fist (Pt. 4)”
The Punisher (2017-2019)
The Punisher follows Frank Castle, a former Marine, out to exacting revenge and punishing those who were responsible for the murder of his wife and two children. Frank then uncovers a military conspiracy and finds himself entangled in the mess as it seems to be bigger than the usual New York criminal underworld. Frank becomes known as The Punisher as he must dig deeper into the conspiracy to discover the truth about the injustices. He must learn that these conspiracies affect more than just him and his late family.
The Punisher Goes From Dark, Mysterious, and Broody to Violent and Gory
The Punisher is often viewed as one of the most violent Marvel comic characters and is probably the most comic line in Marvel comics. The character himself has always been one of the more darker and violent ones. The themes were always a darker tone, the violent fights and gore were excessive, and we must not forget the language used between Frank and the gangs and criminals in New York. Frank’s morals, or lack of, and attitude make him a grittier character than other anti-heroes in Marvel.
Legacy of Frank Castle
As much as fans love Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher, some even say he was born to play that character, we must not forget that there were two previous live-action Punisher movies before Netflix made their series. In 2004 Lionsgate released The Punisher starring Thomas Lane as the title character of The Punisher, Frank Castle, and John Travolta as Howard Saint. “This dark action film, based on the comic book series, follows FBI agent Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) as he transforms into the vengeful Punisher after criminals murder his family, including his wife and son. Castle is gravely injured in the attack and believed to be dead by Howard Saint (John Travolta), the crime lord who ordered the hit. Following his recovery, Castle becomes a heavily armed vigilante who will stop at nothing to exact revenge on Saint and dismantle his underworld empire.” In 2008 they rebooted the fan-favorite character with the film of Punisher: War Zone with a whole new cast with Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle now with Dominic West as Billy Russoti/Jigsaw. Punisher: War Zone follows “Frank Castle, aka The Punisher (Ray Stevenson), turns the streets of New York City red as he wages a one man war against the crime syndicate responsible for the death of his wife and two kids. Aided by his trusted sidekick, Microchip (Wayne Knight), he almost kills Billy Russoti (Dominic West) and leaves him horribly disfigured. Billy renames himself Jigsaw and with the help of his crazed brother Loony Bin Jim, recruits criminals from every corner of the city to do battle with Frank.” The film was initially a commercial failure which made it the final Punisher film or project to be produced by an outside studio before Marvel rightfully got the rights to their comic book character back and introduced Jon Bernthal in Netflix’s DareDevil season two before giving him his own series.
The Punisher: Dirty Laundry
One of the best comic short films is The Punisher: Dirty Laundry. Some Marvel fans may be used to short films known as Marvel One Shots which were a series of direct-to-video short films produced by Marvel Studios that provided a backstory or more information to characters or events that were introduced in their films. Marvel Studios of course doesn’t make these anymore due to the advancement in streaming services. However, fans must know that The Punisher: Dirty Laundry was completely a fan-film. The ten minute short paid homage to the 2004 Punisher film was a fan-film but was professionally made. What most compelled fans to this short was that they were able to bring back Thomas Lane to reprise his role as Frank. The short follows Frank as he is staying in a bad neighbor filled with crime, there he encounters gangs terrorizing residents. Since Frank is a veteran Marine and vigilante known as The Punisher, he could intervene… but all he needs to do is wash his dirty laundry at a laundromat.
Opinion on Frank Castle/The Punisher
My personal favorite heroes are the gritty, humble, tragic characters which includes Frank Castle. He is just a great character with an arc. He’s tormented, tragic, full of guilt and anger which makes him The Punisher. Frank doesn’t always do the right thing, and his ways are looked down upon. Just because his morals aren’t all ethical like The Avengers or DareDevil who actually want to fight these big baddies. Frank never sets out to be a hero and doesn’t do things the hero would normally tend to do but more often than not does heroic acts in the process of stopping bad guys or even killing them. The Punisher is known to be one the most lethal Marvel heroes. One of his biggest flexes has to be that his kill count is higher than Venom… But Frank is not dangerous. He was a soldier, a husband, and a father but all of that was stripped away from him. His family was taken away from him and he will do anything to fill that void in his life no matter how many people he has to go through.
Will Frank Return After Netflix’s Cancellation??
Jon Bernthal will be returning as Frank Castle/The Punisher but not for a while… Krysten Ritter was supposed to return as one of New York’s best Private Investigators, Jessica Jones in DareDevil: Born Again but due to scheduling conflicts Jon Bernthal is now taking her part in the series as he is rumored to cameo as Frank Castle AKA The Punisher. Rosario Dawson may have accidentally teased her role in the series as well since she recently said in an interview that her character, Claire Temple, has appeared in every Defender’s Saga series except The Punisher. She has yet to interact with Frank Castle himself, so this begs the question, will Rosario Dawson not only dominate the Star Wars franchise as Ahsoka but make her debut in the MCU?? I think it is safe to say that Frank Castle will be joining the MCU in the next year or two since DareDevil: Born Again is set to release in 2024.
Who’s Who in The Punisher
The Punisher cast includes Jon Bernthal (Frank Castle/The Punisher), Ben Barnes (Billy Russo), Amber Rose Revah (Dinah Madani), Jason R. Moore (Curtis Hoyle), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (David Lieberman/Micro), Floriana Lima (Krista Dumont), Josh Stewart (John Pilgrim), Giorgia Whigham (Amy Bendix), and Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page).
Both seasons of The Punisher are streaming (again)!!
“He’s not a common criminal, he’s not malicious in intent. Frank Castle is actually a good man. He doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong anymore.”
