Now Frank Castle has returned to our screens in top form with Daredevil: Born Again, I can't help but wish The Defenders timeline of shows - including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders - The Punisher was in a liminal state for a while, since it was unclear for several years if these releases were to be considered MCU canon. Luckily for us, that status didn't last forever.
After Charlie Cox's Daredevil and Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin returned in the MCU timeline via various cameos, the Daredevil Netflix show got its MCU sequel of sorts in Daredevil: Born Again. This not only cemented that the events that happened previously in Daredevil are a part of the MCU, but also brought back a wider range of characters and proved they were also a part of the MCU. While I'm stoked Jon Bernthal's Punisher was one such figure who got their return, I can't help but wish one other Punisher character was still on the board at this time.
The Punisher Has A Range Of Fascinating & Truly Villainous Antagonists
The Punisher's comics are filled with a considerable range of diabolical but fascinating villains, and The Punisher show that adapted the antihero and his story onto the small screen was no different. Throughout the two seasons and two-year-long run of The Punisher, the series brought in a range of antagonists, including Billy Russo, William Rawlins, Lewis Wilson, Anderson and Eliza Shultz, and John Pilgrim, to name just some of the enemies Frank Castle faces in the plot of the show.
While The Punisher adapts these characters in ways that can delve quite a considerable distance from the original source material, they all stay true to the core concepts and tone of the vigilante's comics. This is namely true in that they set up reasons for Frank Castle to have a series of all-out fights with some creative bloodshed, and pit him against a series of figures who are either representative of the corruption Castle opposes, or the tools of these individuals.
The Punisher's Arguably Biggest & Best Villain Died Before Daredevil: Born Again Confirmed Frank Castle's MCU Status
The confirmation that the Punisher was a definite part of the MCU with his appearance in the cast of Daredevil: Born Again was a massively exciting one - especially since Jon Bernthal's antihero had been away from screens for several years - but it also meant a considerable chunk of this character's life happened before this canon status saw a proper confirmation. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it does mean viewers who are only now getting to grips with Castle through Daredevil: Born Again and onwards will seemingly never get to meet one of the character's biggest and best villains.
For The Punisher, this is categorically that of Billy Russo, also known by his villain alias of Jigsaw. While the series does veer away from aspects of Jigsaw's comic lore - toning down his scars and altering his backstory to make him an orphan that served in the military alongside Castle himself - this works both to make a more complicated and gripping version of the character, and a version that is notably different to the previous on-screen movie version of the villain that appeared in 2008's Punisher: War Zone.
The Punisher's Jigsaw was played by Ben Barnes, with Punisher: War Zone's different and somewhat more comic-accurate take on the villain being played instead by Dominic West.
Billy Russo is The Punisher's strongest villain first and foremost in that he's set up as a dark mirror of sorts to Frank Castle himself, with their shared experiences in the conventional military and then in Operation Cerberus - and their history as close friends who grew even closer experiencing the hardships of this time - creating a bond that makes their conflict all the more engrossing. That said, Jigsaw is also the series' best villain because he's its longest-running villain, as the antagonist who basically bookends the show's run.
Billy Russo first appears in The Punisher season 1, episode 2, and last appears in The Punisher's season 2 ending to tie up his ongoing conflict with Frank, having cropped in close to every episode of the show during the time between these points, and having been a focal antagonist for both season 1 and season 2's respective finales. However, this prominence arguably seals Russo's fate, with their episodes-long conflict closing via Frank Castle finally killing his former ally in the final chapter of the series, making proper return appearances essentially impossible.
I'm Sad Many Fans Won't Ever See The Punisher's Jigsaw, But Glad There's Even More Reason For People To Rewatch The Original Show
With Billy Russo having been shot dead all the way back in The Punisher's season 2 finale, Frank Castle's return to the MCU means he's without his version of Jigsaw unless the franchise decides to do a colossal and somewhat counterintuitive retcon to change this. This is something of a shame, as it means viewers only just seeing the antihero now - either because they didn't know whether the original The Punisher was part of the MCU or not, or simply because they didn't catch it - will miss out on what will likely remain the best on-screen Punisher villain depiction of all time.
That said, though, the Punisher's recent reemergence onto the small screen could still potentially help encourage audiences to acclimatize themselves with the prior Marvel show, should Frank Castle's return to form prove interesting enough to viewers. Daredevil: Born Again season 1 certainly sets a promising bar in of depicting Castle as a fascinating character who is made more unusual by how different he is to Marvel's usual heroes, and it seems a safe bet that the Punisher spinoff will only reinforce this idea.
As someone who really enjoyed The Punisher, the idea that some more MCU-only fans who haven't watched the show but are interested in Frank Castle as a character will miss out on his most intense and emotional on-screen conflict does feel like a shame. However, this can hopefully pay dividends in of having people give The Punisher a go, allowing the series a new lease of life via fresh faces becoming invested in seeing what happened to the character before his 2025 return.
The Punisher
- Release Date
- 2017 - 2019-00-00
- Network
- Disney Channel
- Showrunner
- John Romita Sr.
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Mark Goldblatt, Lexi Alexander
- Writers
- Gerry Conway
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
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