It’s Been 8 Years, But I Still Can’t Get Over How Netflix Wasted The Punisher’s Villains

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It’s hard to argue against the fact that Jon Bernthal is currently the definitive actor to take on the role of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) most feared vigilante, The Punisher (aka Frank Castle). Bernthal perfectly captured the controversial anti-hero’s bottomless rage and humanity. He was such a perfect fit for the role that he was frequently cited as one of the best parts of the MCU’s inconsistent Netflix era.

The same, unfortunately, can’t be said for his villains. If fans loved Bernthal’s performance so much that he’s inseparable from the character, most (if not all) of his villains faded into obscurity. This wasn’t because the actors were bad; in fact, they were all good. The problem was that Netflix’s The Punisher wasted Frank’s villains by repeating some of the oldest and most frustrating mistakes of the modern superhero genre.

The Series Didn’t Do Justice to Frank Castle’s Enemies

The Punisher’s entire appeal was that he was essentially the kind of fictional urban vigilante who rose to popularity during the ’70s to the ’80s, only now he operated in a superhero world. Frank’s mere existence in the same world as The Avengers and Spider-Man was both an anomaly, and a much-needed outsider’s perspective. To justify his continued existence in Marvel’s heightened reality, his targets were a cross between realistic criminals and the kinds of exaggerated monsters who could only exist in a super-powered world. For every mundane drug dealer and terrorist he killed, Frank also dealt with larger-than-life super-criminals like the seemingly immortal Russia and a devil-worshiping drug kingpin who had supernatural powers.

The fact that Frank would occasionally team-up with the likes of Captain America and Daredevil to go after big-named supervillains like The Kingpin or Hate-Monger made him stand out among countless other militaristic urban vigilantes in comics, films and more. Storylines that focused on Frank’s realism — most famously Garth Ennis’ highly influential Marvel MAX run — were the exception to his comics’ legacy, not the rule. Contrary to popular belief, and especially when written well, Frank’s comic book ties were a feature rather than a bug. Unfortunately, Neftlix’s The Punisher shows ignored this contrast to make everyone look and feel “realistic.” Worse, Frank’s tenure with Netflix squandered the chance to actually integrate him into the MCU.

Nowhere was this more glaring than in his villains’ live-action depictions. To give credit where it’s due, many of Frank’s enemies originated from the comics. These included the Gnucci crime family, the retired terrorist Finn Cooley, the crooked CIA agent William Rawlins, and more. None other than Frank’s nemesis, Jigsaw (Billy Ruso), was a major antagonist in Frank’s solo series, even if it took him the better part of two seasons to become “Jigsaw.” There was an undeniable joy and novelty to seeing these characters enter the MCU. However, Netflix dropped the ball when it adapted these villains in the most lowkey and frankly boring ways possible. And to be clear, this wasn’t just about appearances and costumes, but backstories and personalities as well.

The Gnuccis and the Kitchen Irish looked and acted just like any other crime family in pop culture. Finn Cooley was reduced from a horribly mangled ex-terrorist to just another sadistic gangster in a suit. Rawlins was turned from a roguish triple agent into a plain and amoral CIA analyst. Worst of all, “Jigsaw” was Billy for most of the series’ run, and his face was barely scarred. The only enemies who felt like they belonged in the MCU’s heightened world were the Hand’s ninjas who Frank helped Daredevil fend off in Daredevil Season 2, and The Mennonite’s stand-in (John Pilgrim) from The Punisher Season 2. And even then, they were considerably toned down to be more “realistic” than necessary. They may have had the same names, but Frank’s enemies in the MCU were anything but his comic book villains.

The Punisher’s Villains Demonstrated the Series’ Detrimental Fealty to Realism

The Series’ Villains Lacked the Weight of Their Comic Book Counterparts

Since The Punisher was really more of a military conspiracy thriller than a heightened war on crime, it made sense to tone down the villains’ eccentricities. The series also gave special focus to Frank’s trauma as a war veteran and as the sole survivor of his family’s massacre in ways the films didn’t. Making the villains grounded and realistic complemented the series’ character drama and tone. It’s understandable that the filmmakers felt that a supervillain like Bushwacker — an assassin who could turn his limbs into any kind of weapon — would distract from their intent. However, doing so also robbed The Punisher of the chance to be the superhero take on urban vigilantes the way the comics were.

The secret to making a Punisher story was recognizing the fact that Frank owed his identity and legacy to the kinds of villains he killed. Frank being an otherwise ordinary man with a gun who still terrified the Marvel Universe’s super-criminal underworld defined him as the most feared anti-hero in comics history. The maxim about superheroes only being as good as their villains proved true here. The series didn’t reflect this, since Frank mostly fought normal criminals at best and equally skilled combat veterans at worst. Worse, Frank was really more interested in seeking vengeance than in waging a futile war against the very concept of “crime.”

As it is, the Netflix series was yet another episodic gritty thriller about revenge. The fact that it was also partly a police procedural didn’t help it distinguish itself from the countless crime series airing right now on TV and streaming. Frank’s lack of super-criminals and his intentional distance from superheroes made sense, since this was his comics’ status quo. But if not for its association with Marvel, The Punisher could easily be lost among other military series like Homeland, Reacher or The Unit.

Worst of all, all of Netflix’s MCU shows were grounded and gritty. Because all the street-level heroes and their rogues galleries were equally brooding and violent, Frank and his enemies didn’t stand out as much as they did in the comics. To add insult to injury, Frank constantly found reasons not to don the Punisher’s mantle, making him just another gun-wielding vigilante on TV. For comparison’s sake, the flawed Punisher films — particularly Punisher: War Zone — endure even today precisely because they embraced their comic roots.

These films pushed the tired and overdone subgenre of vigilante power fantasies to the next level by dropping any attempts to be “realistic.” Here, Frank fought everyone from the Yakuza in the 1991 film to Howard Saint’s achingly stereotypical Mafia in the 2004 film. Granted, these films’ villains have nothing on the depth and pathos of those seen in Netflix’s series. They’re admittedly the most shallow iteration of Frank and his foes imaginable. However, they were still some of Marvel’s more memorably imperfect and undeniably entertaining attempts at mature filmmaking. They have a certain schlocky charm and personality to them that the more self-serious Netflix series lacks.

The Punisher’s Villains Were Part of a Bigger & Tiresome Trend

The Series Could Change Course Under the MCU

To be fair to The Punisher, it was far from this trope’s first or only offender. What’s more, the trend of stripping comic book characters of their iconography to needlessly ground them isn’t unique to the MCU’s Netflix era. Any longtime superhero fan knows that this annoying creative decision can be traced as far back to the genre’s earliest TV shows and films, whether they were based on Marvel Comics or not. In fact, this is one of the most consistent criticisms of both The Batman and Captain America: Brave New World. Regardless of their quality and despite their recent release dates, these films’ fealty to this trend dated them more than they should’ve been.

At its worst, The Punisher’s character philosophy and visual design really were products of their time. The series was made during the height of mainstream genre fiction’s paradoxical need to be taken seriously and be seen as “realistic,” while still being based on inherently imaginative source material. Now that it’s been confirmed that Bernthal will be returning as Frank both for the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again and future MCU projects, there’s reason to hope that his next outing will fix this flaw. If Daredevil can finally fight Bullseye and not his “realistic” stand-in, then the same can and should be the case for Frank and his comic villains.

The Punisher Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Disney+.

“}]] A superhero is only as good as his villains, and Punisher’s run in Netflix proved this the right in the worst way possible.  Read More