A Punisher Special Presentation is on the Way
Welcome back, Frank. The premiere of Daredevil: Born Again is just over a week away, and with it will come the return of the Punisher, the much beloved (by everyone but Marvel) vigilante played by Jon Bernthal in the Netflix Marvel series. There’s been talk of trying to resurrect the street-level MCU mini-universe that existed on Netflix, with rumors of Krysten Ritter popping up in Born Again as Jessica Jones. But Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum has been (Luke) cagey about the subject, saying they’re just focused on the Born Again characters right now, especially Daredevil and the Kingpin. However, news came today from Winderbaum that the Punisher is getting his own “special presentation” on Disney+. In an interview with ComicBook.com – in a now-deleted YouTube video, which ComicBookMovie.com details – Winderbaum revealed that the project is happening with Jon Bernthal but gave no further details, like a time frame or creative team.
By “special presentation,” Winterbaum almost assuredly means one of the Marvel mini-movies produced for Disney+, of which two currently exist: Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. And that’s a point in the plus column because Werewolf by Night was quite good, and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was terrific. Werewolf by Night was directed by composer Michael Giacchino and written by Heather Quinn and Peter Cameron, who worked on some Disney+ Marvel shows; you wouldn’t think that would turn out to be any good, but Werewolf by Night was a fun throwback to the Universal Monsters films, and at 52 minutes, it didn’t outstay its welcome. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special came straight from James Gunn, and it was an absolute blast of Christmas cheer that felt important to the characters. I don’t know if there was more creative freedom, if the shorter run time helped them shave off the usual bloat from Disney+’s Marvel output, or if it was something completely different, but these special presentations just worked, and that bodes well for the Punisher.
What should the Punisher special presentation be about? What almost every Punisher story should be about: Frank Castle killing lots of gangsters. One of the biggest flaws with some of the Hollywood Punisher adaptations is the desire to overcomplicate what is a fairly simple story. No more government conspiracies, no more endless revenge for his family, and please don’t have the Punisher retire for what would be the fourth time. This is why I hope Dario Scardapane – the showrunner of The Punisher who is now behind Daredevil: Born Again – is not directing the special presentation. This needs to be classic Punisher action. You could call it One Wild Night or something to that effect and just follow Frank as he lights up the New York underworld during one night. Better yet, adapt the first arc of Garth Ennis’ initial Punisher run, “Welcome Back, Frank” (a piece of which was used in Daredevil season 2 – that episode that took place on the rooftop with Matt chained up while Frank debated the merits of killing scum was straight from Ennis), and have Frank be at war with the Gnucci family, trying to eliminate them in one night. I’d stop at the fourth issue, “Wild Kingdom,” where… well, I don’t want to ruin it, but it would be a fun way to end the Gnucci story, even though it continued from there in the comics. They could even call it Punisher: War Journal and have Frank narrate the short film via his journal entries as he documents his massacres. There have been tons of Punisher stories over the years from which they could draw. The important thing is to make it a burst of unapologetic Punisher action; the fans need it, and frankly, so does Marvel.
Let us know what you think of a Punisher special presentation in the comments!
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