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Jon Bernthal’s popularity in the second series of Daredevil led to a spinoff series ordered, written, shot and released in just over one year. While the likes of Daredevil and Iron Fist always see a chance for redemption in their villains, Frank Castle is a jaded, tired killing machine. The short turnaround worried me, but there is plenty of potential here.

It would have been easy to make this series a prequel. The Punisher’s backstory pulls Gladiator-level fridging with Castle’s wife and child, but this series skips the origin story and gets straight to Frank as a broken man.  A construction worker trying to fit back into society, Frank – like many of his counterparts in the superhero-supervillain genre – struggles to escape the allure of his life as The Punisher.

But what good is a crime story without cops to crack it? Madani and Stein, a pair who come off as somewhat of a cliché buddy cop duo, are set up as Frank’s adversaries, but unfortunately, their storyline is far less interesting than Frank’s and bears stale resemblance to a similar dynamic in 2016’s Luke Cage. This does not mean that all supporting characters are bland. Early on, Frank befriends Donny, a fellow construction worker who proves to be one of the pilot’s best written characters.

The Punisher could benefit from deeper links with the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe – the New York skyline lacks the iconic Avengers Tower and considering the great dynamic Frank Castle has with many of Marvel’s other heroes in the comics (Daredevil, Spider-Man, even Tony Stark) I would love to see what they think of this iteration of The Punisher. A movie crossover is unlikely to happen however, as Marvel have always kept their mature Netflix shows at arm’s length from the PG-13 films.

Where The Punisher truly excels is in its action. More brutal than much of the MCU, The Punisher’s action sequences are slow, methodical and downright terrifying. Frank is certainly not afraid to show that he means business. While the show treads much of the same ground as other Marvel-Netflix collaborations, there are enough fresh ideas to keep fans of this street-level world coming back for more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIY6zFL95hE