Good news for you, bad news for criminals.
Entertainment Weekly and Marvel have confirmed that Netflix has ordered a spinoff series of The Punisher, based on the Marvel Comics character played by Jon Bernthal in Daredevil Season 2. This will be the sixth Marvel series for Netflix, after Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders.
According to the articles, writer and executive producer Steve Lightfoot (Hannibal, Casualty) will serve as the series' showrunner. The project was first reported by TVLine last summer.
"For me, the complexity and unpredictability of Frank Castle make him an incredibly compelling character and I couldn’t be more excited to dive into his world," said Lightfoot. "After watching Jon’s performance in Marvel’s Daredevil, I could not be more excited to be working with him to further develop and progress the story of this anti-hero in a show of his own."
"We want to thank the fans who are clamoring for more of Jon’s stunning and powerful performance as Frank Castle from Marvel’s Daredevil," said Executive Producer/Head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb. "Now combined with showrunner Steve Lightfoot’s compelling writing, we’re thrilled to bring Marvel’s The Punisher to Netflix."
"Jon hooked our global audience with his performance as Frank Castle from the moment he stepped on screen in Marvel’s Daredevil, and we are looking forward to seeing more of him in this role under the vision of Steve Lightfoot," said Cindy Holland, Netflix Vice President of Original Content.
Created in 1974 by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and John Romita, Sr., The Punisher first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) #129 as Frank Castlle, a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his war on crime. He was determined to kill Spider-Man, who was wanted for the apparent murder of Norman Osborn. He later encountered other heroes, such as Captain America and Nightcrawler, then faced off against Daredevil, whose more liberal views of crime often put them on opposite sides.
Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob during a shootout in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry. His family's killers were the first to be slain. A war veteran of the U.S. military, Frank Castle is a master of martial arts, stealth tactics, guerrilla warfare, and a wide variety of weapons.