At the end of Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil season 1, Matt Murdock took the stance not to solve crime through murder. But for those who want season 2 to be a lot darker, Marvel is bringing The Punisher to Hell’s Kitchen to show Daredevil the lethal side of vigilanteism.
Just a few months ago, showrunner Steven S. DeKnight expressed his desire to create a Punisher spinoff, which would of course have to be a hard-R. But considering that Marvel and Netflix already have lined up AKA Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders after Daredevil, it makes more sense for The Punisher to show up on a Marvel show.
But instead of being one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s many revolving-door guest stars, Frank Castle will provide the (very fitting) foil for Murdock. He’ll be played by Jon Bernthal, who was surprisingly and chillingly brutal as Rick Grimes’ frenemy Shane on AMC’s The Walking Dead. Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television, praised the show’s newest star:
Jon Bernthal brings an unmatched intensity to every role he takes on, with a potent blend of power, motivation and vulnerability that will connect with audiences. Castle’s appearance will bring dramatic changes to the world of Matt Murdock and nothing will be the same.
No joke—The Punisher doesn’t do anything halfway.
If you’re gonna have the Punisher on a TV show, Netflix makes more sense than network – you can’t do Castle’s character justice under the content restrictions of network TV. Excited to see this!
Wow, if they’re going to use the Punisher to make Daredevil even darker… It was already pretty dark. I’m not sure how much darker they can take it without losing at least some of its audience (I know several friends who couldn’t even finish the first season, despite being big comic film fans, because it was so dark).
More Brutal?!
It’s already pretty brutal
Yeah, it’s fairly savage already. Going “darker” may push a lot of people right out of it altogether.
There’s a lot of storyline to be explored, questions unanswered, things don’t need darker to be more intense, I like the show, a lot, not so sure adding a lot more brutality would help.
Latest rumour that I heard was that Jason Statham has asked the producers if he could play Bullseye!
If done well, pitting Daredevil against a lethal vigilante that is nominally on the same side as him could be used as a vehicle to show Matt rising above and showcasing why heroes don’t need to kill. Sort of like his conflict with Stick, but perhaps played out over a longer period. So it won’t necessarily make the show more grimdark than it was already. But I wouldn’t rule it out, either.
-Andy