How Should Marvel Play The Punisher In Daredevil Season 2?

The Punisher is coming to Daredevil second season. We know he's Frank Castle, being played by Jon Bernthal, and judging by the bullet-ridden new Daredevil logo, he'll have guns (probably lots of them).

Just how will Marvel Studios and Netflix play the character when he debuts on the critically-acclaimed series?

We should start our speculation by looking at the first season of Daredevil. Lauded critically and by fans alike for its realism, Daredevil pushed the boundaries of what anyone had seen from Marvel Studios since 2008's Iron Man. While the MCU had violence, it was mostly in the vein of two giant robotic suits fighting each other, or two giant monsters fighting each other, or a giant monster fighting a giant robotic suit (see a theme here?).

But Daredevil brought things home in a down-and-dirty way that even Captain America hadn't broached. When Matt Murdock was hit, he hurt. When he hurt, he bled. When he bled, he needed someone else to step up and aid him, patch him up, and nurse him back to fighting strength. Even his vaunted "radar" ability was mostly downplayed, forgoing flashy superpowers in favor of a brutality led by his fists and feet.

That brutality delivered moments with up-close-and-personal deaths that were final. While comic book-style deaths like Bucky's (he came back), Steve Rogers' (he came back), and Coulson's (he came back) teased the idea of death in a grander scheme, or as a general story device (the nebulous dead Europeans at the hands of Loki in Avengers also come to mind), they feel monumentally light-weight when compared to Wilson Fisk crushing a man's head with a car door. The world of organized crime is not pretty, and the world of Daredevil reflected that with honest violence that never felt unearned, despite being more over-the-top than many MCU fans may have expected at times.

What kind of Punisher will live in this brutal, violent world? Well, most Punisher fans would say, "the best kind." Just as the MCU films borrowed heavily from the Ultimate comics iterations of the Avengers, it comes as no surprise that Daredevil, and presumably the rest of the Marvel/Netflix series that all focus on street-level heroes (that is to say, you aren't going to see anyone here fighting alien invasions and godlings on a daily basis) borrows and will borrow heavily from two all-but-forgotten imprints of Marvel past: Marvel Knights and MAX. In the world of Marvel Knights, the street-level heroes took center stage as Marvel sought to refocus their efforts on telling true-to-life and modern-day stories free of decades of backstory. In MAX comics, things were taken a step further, offering tales meant specifically for adults that featured more direct and bloody violence and the occasional swear word or naked body part.

And so, it is from those comics that we can get our first impression of Frank Castle on Daredevil. The character in these two versions of the Marvel Universe was, first and foremost, the same vengeful, street-level, murderous vigilante that was first established in the 70s and 80s. Rather than fighting alongside Captain America as he would sometimes do in the 90s, or using his guns on mustache-twirling supervillains, this Frank Castle wanted to wipe the streets of the criminal element that affected it on a day-to-day basis. The villains who want to take over the world don't interest him much, or at least not nearly as much as the villains who put drugs into the hands of children, prey on the weak in the form of muggings and store robberies, all in the hopes of filling a boss's pockets. Those same villains are the ones Daredevil introduced us to in season one: led by Wilson Fisk, we saw a vision of Hell's Kitchen that included Russian Mob, Chinese (Triad) mafia, the Japanese Yakuza (and a hint of the Hand), and of course Fisk's own direct employees. While Matt Murdock visited a Priest and struggled with the morality of killing even one of these men, Frank Castle is more likely to simply walk in on a meeting with guns blazing.

Indeed, the Hell's Kitchen at the end of season one is ripe for nothing short of a gang war; with no Kingpin heading up all these various factions, plus two leaders dead and another gone back home, you could say this section of New York is likely to be a War Zone. Such a place is Frank Castle's natural habitat, especially the Castle of the Marvel Knights and MAX worlds.

But the other aspect of Frank Castle that we suspect will get explored well on Daredevil, if the show's handling of Wilson Fisk is our example, is his personal drive, and the backstory that makes it at least somewhat relatable, if not understandable, to see his particular brand of vengeance. With a Frank Castle that will most likely be an Iraq or Afghanistan War veteran, rather than his original Vietnam origins, Daredevil's writers have the opportunity to paint a picture of someone who struggles not just with loss, but with the nature of war and violence. It's a difficult subject, and one that several TV shows have tried to broach with varying levels (mostly low) of success. The Punisher of Daredevil needs to be seen as an equally justified vigilante to the titular character. We may even see him, at times, as being more effective than the devil of Hell's Kitchen. With superior training and a kill-or-be-killed mentality, he will certainly pose a threat, and assess any threats in turn.

Don't expect the reluctant hero. Instead, think of Frank Castle as a confidant soldier at war, one who's full aware and comfortable with his action. As a Marine, he was at war with a foreign enemy. Now, he's at war with those who would take away the rights and lives of citizens on his own soil. He doesn't struggle with the morality, because he believes what he's doing is moral. He doesn't want to have a fancy costume or recognition (other than by the criminals), because he isn't a super hero. Frank Castle needs to be shown knowing exactly who and what he is, because that will be the most truthful portrayal that can be offered in this world that prides itself on truth.

As we referenced in our Punisher reader's guide, Marvel and Netflix should turn to storytellers like Frank Miller, Garth Ennis, and Greg Rucka. Those creators provided honest portrayals of a man with the conviction and a certainty that his way is not just the most effective, but the truest and best. And that level of gumption clashing against Murdock's hesitance should prove very interesting.

How would you like The Punisher to operate in Daredevil? Let us know in the comments!