‘The Punisher’: Karen Page Wasn’t Originally Going To Be On The Series

The Punisher will reunite Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) with Nelson and Murdock secretary Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), but showrunner Steve Lightfoot has revealed Karen wasn’t originally intended to crossover into the spinoff series.

“I asked to have her, because she and Frank [Castle] are so great,” Lightfoot said (via Mashable).

Frank and Karen came to have an understanding over the course of Daredevil‘s sophomore season, which brought Bernthal’s Punisher into the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe. Frank was a Nelson and Murdock client before being sentenced to prison in Ryker’s Island, where he would cause a bloody scene before escaping. After learning he was being framed by the Blacksmith (Clancy Brown), the freshly-escaped vigilante sought out Karen, who was working with the New York Bulletin on a piece about “the Punisher.”

Frank saved Karen’s life when the two were attacked by gunfire, and despite the danger, Karen chose to help him identify and stop the dangerous Blacksmith. In their time together Frank opened up to Karen, even sharing stories about his murdered wife while the two were on the down-low. The two formed an unlikely bond — one that made the character a natural to pop up in Frank’s own solo series.

“Frank is a closed-off military guy, and this is a woman he treats like an equal more than anyone else,” Lightfoot said.

The lone anti-hero is going to need all the allies he can get: as revealed by the official synopsis, The Punisher will catch up with the gun-toting vigilante as he “uncovers a conspiracy that runs far deeper than New York’s criminal underworld.”

Bernthal and Ann Woll star alongside Amber Revah, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ben Barnes. The Punisher hits Netflix November 17.