THE PUNISHER
SEASON 1

A SPIN-OFF FROM DAREDEVIL SEASON 2

HOW FRANK CASTLE GOT HIS OWN SERIES

Jon Bernthal’s Punisher appeared first in Daredevil Season 2 in March 2016. Netflix was in early development on a spin-off by January 2016, and in April 2016 ordered a 13-episode season, confirmed Bernthal and named Steve Lightfoot showrunner. Filming began on 3 October 2016 in Brooklyn under the working title Crime and wrapped on 9 April 2017. Tyler Bates composed the music.

Lightfoot said on 16 November 2017 that he built the series around Bernthal’s Frank as its emotional center, and kept two elements from Daredevil: the Kandahar reference and the disc marked Micro.

NOT A HERO, AND NOT A ONE-NOTE BARBARIAN

HOW THE SHOW FRAMES FRANK CASTLE AND HIS TRAUMA

Lightfoot said the show has to be honest about what Frank does, and that he is not an unvarnished hero:

“We have to let the audience lose him at times and let him win them back.”

Steve Lightfoot, 16 November 2017

Lightfoot also said viewers “cannot unequivocally root for the Punisher,” and spoke about the veterans’ side of the story: “you can’t send men into battle for 15 years and expect them to come back and act like nothing ever happened.” Bernthal said in July 2017 that he was not interested in playing “a one-note barbarian” and that he could play Frank because he was “a husband and a father.”

A PANEL PULLED AND A SURPRISE DROP SHELVED

HOW THE LAS VEGAS SHOOTING CHANGED THE RELEASE PLAN

On 4 October 2017, days after the shooting in Las Vegas, Netflix and Marvel cancelled the series’ New York Comic Con panel. Their statement said they were “stunned and saddened by this week’s senseless act in Las Vegas” and that taking part in the convention “wouldn’t be appropriate.” A surprise release planned after the panel was cancelled, and the 17 November date was announced two weeks later.

Lightfoot said on 17 November 2017 that he expected criticism of the gun violence, that he wrote the show about a year earlier, and that he wanted the characters to argue the issue among themselves. He said: “there’s no getting away from the fact that we’re definitely a violent show.”

MICRO, MADANI AND BILLY RUSSO

WHO PLAYS THE PEOPLE AROUND FRANK

Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays David Lieberman, known as Micro, with Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle and Paul Schulze as William Rawlins. Deborah Ann Woll returns as Karen Page from Daredevil.

THE REWATCH

A DIVIDED CRITICAL RESPONSE, A RENEWAL AND A SHORT RUN

Rotten Tomatoes lists a 68% critics’ score from 82 reviews and an 88% audience score, and its consensus says “a rocky start can’t keep The Punisher from pushing the boundaries of Marvel’s TV universe.” Metacritic gives the season 55 from 20 critics. Newsweek framed the debate in its headline as a cautionary PTSD tale or a dangerous revenge fantasy. The season won the Saturn Award for Best New Media Superhero Series.

Netflix renewed the series on 12 December 2017. Season 2 followed on 18 January 2019, and Netflix cancelled the series on 18 February 2019.

In the Marvel Marathon it sits in the Marvel TV shows in order guide between The Gifted Season 1 and Runaways Season 1, and in the MCU timeline guide between Spider-Man: Homecoming and Doctor Strange. It is classed as Marvel Television rather than MCU, so it is not in the MCU release-order, series or movie guides.