What We Want From The Punisher In Daredevil Season 2

Daredevil is a surprisingly gritty and grim Netflix series when compared to the larger body of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it's about to get a whole lot grittier. Enter: the Punisher, Marvel's darkest and most ridiculous anti-hero, and a representative of every danger that comics present to our impressionable youth. The Punisher is a guy hell-bent on vengeance, and he'll use any method available to get what he wants, which is a stark contrast to Daredevil's more life-preserving ways. So, what do we want to see from the Punisher now that he's officially part of Marvel's live-action lineup?

Daredevil, for all that he does for the scummier parts of New York City, refuses to kill criminals, whether it's to get them to stop doing bad stuff, or just out of a desire for revenge. While Daredevil routinely beats villains into extended hospital stays, the Punisher will not hesitate to kill anything and anyone that gets in his way. It's the kind of hyperbole that throws the general morality of comic books completely upside-down. If this Punisher is going to be anywhere close to accurate, he's going to have to leave a serious trail of blood everywhere he goes and really mess some stuff up, execution style.

Daredevil's Matt Murdock is in constant conflict about the fact that he beats people up in costume at night, and while the Punisher also experiences a similar crisis of conscience once in a while, the series truly doesn't need two dudes pouting between punches. This Punisher has to be obstinately certain that what he's doing is the only way to really fix New York, not unlike Wilson Fisk's own motivations. Sure, this sets up a whole bunch of episodes that will probably be prolonged moral debates at gunpoint, and a few scenes where Daredevil lets the Punisher live after incapacitating him, but it'll be a whole lot better than watching a couple of muscle dudes cry about their jobs.

It's pretty likely that the Punisher has run afoul of the U.S. government in a pretty serious way, being an ex-military vigilante. Daredevil's NYPD scuffles are nothing compared to the fact that the Punisher's civilian identity, Frank Castle, has extensive military training, and he's probably on a few dozen watch-lists for his dangerous demeanor and collection of skin-tight skull t-shirts. Where Daredevil is a relatively quiet, stealthy guy who struggles to operate according to the law, the Punisher has no such qualms. He's loud, obsessed, deranged, and defiant, so even if he's a little over the top, that'll be okay.

We get it. All Daredevil needs to fight bad guys is his deadly hands, and it's only with extreme trepidation that he picks up a set of sticks with which to beat on baddies. He goes up against guns and knives, but refuses to risk actually killing anyone who's trying to kill him. Conversely, the Punisher is all about guns. Whatever your political stance is on gun ownership, the guy needs an extensive collection of guns lining the walls of his creepy Battle Van in order to remain true to character. And we don't want to see the discount handguns that every lackey keeps on popping off. We want crazy guns that fire smaller guns that shoot bullets made of death.

The slow crawl of Daredevil made it possible to tell Matt Murdock's tragic history without setting aside any huge chunks of plot that didn't advance the story. But even then, we only got one dark glimpse at the history of Wilson Fisk, who is arguably the most compelling character in the series. It'll be okay if the series dedicates some time to detailing Frank Castle's military history, the death of his family, and his gradual descent into justice-fueled madness. Marvel can definitely do a better job with this guy's shady past than they did with that of the Kingpin. And if we don't get to see the inside of the Battle Van, well, there's no hope for this series.

In the Punisher's first appearance, he's trying to kill Spider-Man for the apparent murder of Norman Osborn (aka The Green Goblin). So ignoring the nature of the Punisher's original comic book entrance would be a mistake. Live-action Marvel is good at making subtle plot twists for the good of continuity, like Ultron being a creation of Iron Man instead of Ant-Man, but if the show's producers can't throw in some kind of Peter Parker or Daily Bugle reference in somewhere, they need to try harder. With a new Spider-Man film due in 2017, and a Spidey cameo in Civil War, it's a perfect time to start dropping webby hints.

Joss Whedon, the architect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has gone on record stating that he hates the Punisher, mostly because the storm of bullets and explosions that usually follows the anti-hero around has probably killed more than a few bystanders. Of course, that comes back to whoever's writing the Punisher at the time; there have been writers who've embraced ultra-violence, and others who describe a guy who really wants to blast a building full of bullets, but can't because there might be a kitten inside. Now that the Punisher is official, and Whedon has left Marvel behind for now, let's make sure that Whedon gets the sendoff he deserves.

Comic movies are doing a lot better than before when it comes to respecting the artists and authors who created the million-dollar characters we see on the screen, but there are still many comic creators who, because of contracts written during a very different time, have never seen a reasonable profit from their creations. Many creators struggle just to get by today, as the industry changes and leaves their style behind. A quick thanks to Gerry Conway and John Romita Sr., the guys who created the Punisher, would help the positive momentum we have going towards finally giving creators the respect they've earned.