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Post by Warmonger on Dec 12, 2017 13:52:47 GMT -5
Recently finished watching Netflix's The Punisher series. Incredible show. Rough, gritty, uncompromising, and brutal. It's tough to compare this to the other Marvel Netflix shows since it's got such a different vibe/tone, but it's definitely up there as one of my top 3 favorites - along with DD (both seasons) and Jessica Jones. There are mild SPOILERS below, so please don't continue reading if you haven't finished the series yet - and want to be genuinely surprised. I've never been in the military or in combat, but my impression here is that this series at least appears to paint a somewhat realistic picture of what happens when some soldiers who come back from war & have a difficult time re-adjusting to civilian life because of severe PTSD. So, the storyline involving the disturbed young soldier who came back from overseas was quite poignant and sad, though it obviously didn't excuse his horrific actions. The actor playing this soldier also did a great job playing LHO in another great Netflix series, 11/22/63. It's was interesting that he played similar character in both shows. Though the whole series was great, to me things really ramped up in the last 4 episodes - starting with the soldier's attack on the hotel (trying to take out the congressman), which led directly up to the finale. My favorite sequence in the whole series was when the mercenaries (on Billy Russo's team) invaded the basement/bunker that Frank & Micro had been holed up, and then were subsequently taken out by Frank (who had set them up) - who seemed to do so without even breaking a sweat. One of the most difficult scenes to watch was when the young soldier was standing in the meat locker & counting down to the end, while The Punisher stood outside & understandably encouraged him. Looking forward, I agree that it will be interesting to see where the character goes from here. He's avenged his family & is obviously at a loss as to what to do next. As we saw in the comics, will he go ahead and wage a one-man war on criminals? Will he team up with Micro again? The only thing that's obvious to me is that Jigsaw will probably appear in the future as Frank's nemesis. Also wanted to mention that JB's depiction of The Punisher is far, far superior to any other on-screen depiction of the character (Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane, and the UK actor who starred in Punisher: War Zone). Amazing casting by Netflix, but there's no surprise there - since they also did an amazing job casting DD/Matt Murdock, The Kingpin, Foggy Nelson, Elektra, etc. in the DD Netflix series. Lastly, I was a mild fan of The Punisher back in the '80's, but never read much beyond his appearances in Frank Miller's DD, his '80's Spider-man appearances, and the excellent mini series from around 1985 (with art by Mike Zeck). However, the show is making me want to read some of the more popular '90's comics featuring the character. If you're interested in getting back into Punisher comics, I’d recommend going straight for the Garth Ennis stuff. It doesn’t get any better than that. The Marvel Knights run is more of a dark comedic series and features the classic “Welcome back, Frank” storyline at the beginning where Ennis took Frank back to his roots after all of the “Frank becomes a mob boss” and “avenging angel” crap of the mid-late 90’s. But Punisher MAX by Ennis is legitimately one of the greatest comic book runs of all-time IMO. Incredibly brutal and nihilistic, taking place in real-time with Frank now pushing 60, and set outside the Marvel 616 universe with the exception of a couple of Nick Fury appearances. Ennis doesn’t romanticize what Frank is or what he does. He portrays him as a ruthless killing machine with something seriously wrong with him and stacks him up against some of the most despicable villains in comic book history who you take genuine joy in seeing Frank do away with. You can find the first trade collecting the first 2 story arcs (as well as the ‘Born’ mini) on Amazon and see how you like it. |
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Post by Warmonger on Dec 13, 2017 8:47:17 GMT -5
Just renewed for a 2nd season
Nice!!
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Post by Warmonger on Dec 13, 2017 12:42:58 GMT -5
Steve Lightfoot (the showrunner) has already said that he wants to see Barracuda introduced in the 2nd season.  Maybe my favorite Punisher villain ever. Demented as hell but also hilarious and very charismatic. Terry Crews would be an amazing choice to portray him. |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 1, 2018 9:30:24 GMT -5
Just finished the series last night and I loved it from start to finish. I think this cast, from top to bottom, is the strongest we've seen so far from the Marvel Netflix shows. Bernthal is fantastic as Frank Castle, which we knew from DD, but the actor who really impressed me was Ebon Moss-Barach as Micro. He and Bernthal had fantastic chemistry and I bought the relationship from the first scene (as opposed to the chemistry problems I personal had with Iron Fist and even Defenders to a lesser degree). I was only a casual Punisher fan in the late 80's and early 90's, so my experience with the comics version of Micro is slight to say the least, but his take on the character was superb.
Spoilers
Changing The Punisher's origin from organized crime to the military makes sense in a modern context, and I get why they did it in terms of relevance, but it does change the character fundamentally. This Punisher doesn't harbor a deep hatred from criminals yet, since his ire has be focused solely on dirty government agents behind his families murder. I can see several ways this changes and I'm intrigued at how Russo is going to be integrated as Jigsaw. Right now, Russo's only real option is the underworld and I could see him working with the Kingpin, who I really, really hope makes and appearance in Season 2.
The only thing that bugs me (and my only real critique of an otherwise excellent series) is the ending, pertaining to Frank's "new life." Sure, he's officially wiped from the system (an obvious set up to his soon to be vigilante rebirth) but his face has been all over the news for months, dating back to his first outing as The Punisher in Daredevil. Don't you think the vets in his counseling session are going to recognize him immediately and that a few might have a problem sitting next to The Punisher during these sessions? This was really unexpected and kinda nonsensical to me. I assumed he'd move up state and live in the woods like his pal Gunner, for instance. I realize that all will be explained in Season 2, but I simply don't see how he functions out in the open in NYC even keeping a low profile.
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Post by strangeman on Jan 3, 2018 9:39:05 GMT -5
Punisher season 1 is easily equal to Daredevil's and Jessica Jones' first seasons, those three are pretty much the best thing to have come out of the MCU up until now imo
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Post by Warmonger on Jan 15, 2018 21:18:17 GMT -5
Just finished the series last night and I loved it from start to finish. I think this cast, from top to bottom, is the strongest we've seen so far from the Marvel Netflix shows. Bernthal is fantastic as Frank Castle, which we knew from DD, but the actor who really impressed me was Ebon Moss-Barach as Micro. He and Bernthal had fantastic chemistry and I bought the relationship from the first scene (as opposed to the chemistry problems I personal had with Iron Fist and even Defenders to a lesser degree). I was only a casual Punisher fan in the late 80's and early 90's, so my experience with the comics version of Micro is slight to say the least, but his take on the character was superb. SpoilersChanging The Punisher's origin from organized crime to the military makes sense in a modern context, and I get why they did it in terms of relevance, but it does change the character fundamentally. This Punisher doesn't harbor a deep hatred from criminals yet, since his ire has be focused solely on dirty government agents behind his families murder. I can see several ways this changes and I'm intrigued at how Russo is going to be integrated as Jigsaw. Right now, Russo's only real option is the underworld and I could see him working with the Kingpin, who I really, really hope makes and appearance in Season 2. The only thing that bugs me (and my only real critique of an otherwise excellent series) is the ending, pertaining to Frank's "new life." Sure, he's officially wiped from the system (an obvious set up to his soon to be vigilante rebirth) but his face has been all over the news for months, dating back to his first outing as The Punisher in Daredevil. Don't you think the vets in his counseling session are going to recognize him immediately and that a few might have a problem sitting next to The Punisher during these sessions? This was really unexpected and kinda nonsensical to me. I assumed he'd move up state and live in the woods like his pal Gunner, for instance. I realize that all will be explained in Season 2, but I simply don't see how he functions out in the open in NYC even keeping a low profile. One of the biggest things that bothered me was Frank showing up to the support group at the end. I just can’t see Frank Castle of all people participating in a group therapy session, even if it’s amongst other vets. They tried to humanize Frank a bit too much. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2018 10:52:56 GMT -5
I finished Punisher this week and I absolutely loved it. Brutal, bloody, excellent story and characters. Bernthal deserves an Emmy nomination.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 23, 2018 20:57:34 GMT -5
Just finished the series last night and I loved it from start to finish. I think this cast, from top to bottom, is the strongest we've seen so far from the Marvel Netflix shows. Bernthal is fantastic as Frank Castle, which we knew from DD, but the actor who really impressed me was Ebon Moss-Barach as Micro. He and Bernthal had fantastic chemistry and I bought the relationship from the first scene (as opposed to the chemistry problems I personal had with Iron Fist and even Defenders to a lesser degree). I was only a casual Punisher fan in the late 80's and early 90's, so my experience with the comics version of Micro is slight to say the least, but his take on the character was superb. SpoilersChanging The Punisher's origin from organized crime to the military makes sense in a modern context, and I get why they did it in terms of relevance, but it does change the character fundamentally. This Punisher doesn't harbor a deep hatred from criminals yet, since his ire has be focused solely on dirty government agents behind his families murder. I can see several ways this changes and I'm intrigued at how Russo is going to be integrated as Jigsaw. Right now, Russo's only real option is the underworld and I could see him working with the Kingpin, who I really, really hope makes and appearance in Season 2. The only thing that bugs me (and my only real critique of an otherwise excellent series) is the ending, pertaining to Frank's "new life." Sure, he's officially wiped from the system (an obvious set up to his soon to be vigilante rebirth) but his face has been all over the news for months, dating back to his first outing as The Punisher in Daredevil. Don't you think the vets in his counseling session are going to recognize him immediately and that a few might have a problem sitting next to The Punisher during these sessions? This was really unexpected and kinda nonsensical to me. I assumed he'd move up state and live in the woods like his pal Gunner, for instance. I realize that all will be explained in Season 2, but I simply don't see how he functions out in the open in NYC even keeping a low profile. One of the biggest things that bothered me was Frank showing up to the support group at the end. I just can’t see Frank Castle of all people participating in a group therapy session, even if it’s amongst other vets. They tried to humanize Frank a bit too much. That’s what the last few minutes sounded like, but I think the man wasn’t planning on hanging around. I felt he was sort of paying his respects to the other vets, but would probably soon go his own way. I did like the thematic twist of having this guy who just went through hell without ever flinching admit that he was afraid (finally! Something scares him!) of not having a war to fight any more. I wouldn’t make that the subject of season 2, but it was a nice note on which to end season 1. It gave it a certain sense of finality, which is sometimes lacking in TV series. I was tentatively optimistic about this series, but it was really fine... on par with the best Marvel/Netflix ones, IMO. |
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Post by Warmonger on May 22, 2018 8:59:54 GMT -5
On set clip of Season 2
Russo returning as Jigsaw confirmed
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Post by Warmonger on Dec 12, 2018 11:25:47 GMT -5
Looks like Punisher Season 2 comes out next month.
Tease starts at 1:55
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Post by Warmonger on Dec 12, 2018 18:50:07 GMT -5
Jon Bernthal posted this picture earlier. I’d imagine a trailer will drop within the next week or two.  |
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Post by rom on Jul 16, 2019 22:13:37 GMT -5
I'm surprised that Punisher S02 didn't get more discussion on here; I just finished watching this. Very impressive season, and I think this slightly topped the first one - to some extent.
Enjoyed the whole season, but especially liked the early episodes:
-The fight scene in the bar was incredible. The young woman that Frank saved was almost like a "daughter" figure for Frank. I.e., I think he connected with her so much because she reminded him somewhat of his daughter who had died.
-The later fight scene in the isolated police station @ night - with the criminals closing in - was probably my favorite single episode in the entire season. This reminded me a lot of the storyline in one of my favorite re-makes, Assault on Precinct 13 (2005). Excellent episode.
-The final scene was one of my favorite TV series finales - i.e., several months after the main events in the series ended, Frank is doing night-time surveillance on two violent gangs who are meeting for a tense "sit-down". And, just as things between the gangs look like they're going to deteriorate, Frank walks in with the Punisher armor on, says something like, "Let's Dance" - and then his guns start blazing. Great scene - that's obviously ripped straight from the comics!
As with all of the Netflix Marvel shows, the many strengths of this series include:
1) Extremely well done & well choreographed fight scenes. Though they are unrealistic (i.e., if a non-super powered hero like Frank Castle received this much punishment, he would quickly end up in a coma/crippled for life, or dead). However, suspension of disbelief notwithstanding - these scenes were incredibly well-done.
2) Incredible casting - especially for the leads. After seeing JB as Frank Castle/The Punisher in these 2 seasons & the DD series, I honestly can't imagine anyone other than him playing the role in future TV shows/movies. Ditto with CC as DD.
Side-note: I did have an initial quibble with the series Billy Russo character - who I thought was supposed to be based on the Jigsaw character from the comics (and he may have been). However, in S02 he was barely scarred up. That being said, I don't see that the psychiatrist character would have still been sleeping with him if he was horribly scarred up - she would have been too disgusted with his appearance to do so. So, I'll buy that he wasn't really disfigured - for the purposes of the story.
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