Checking my Facebook Memories this morning, it is apparently the anniversary of my review of Jessica Jones. In many reviews of The Punisher, Jessica Jones is the pinnacle all other Marvel Netflix (or in some cases, Marvel shows on any network but that's a post for another time...) must be held to. I'll tell you straight out, I personally enjoyed both seasons of Daredevil more so... (Hell, The Punisher had a less annoying support cast...)
For reasons I didn't consider back then and don't care about now, comic books in the '90's saw the creation of more violent characters to presumably dispel the notion comics weren't just for kids. Ironman, Thor, Captain America and, perhaps ironically, Batman got more gritty counterparts and the Punisher (and Deadpool) was created. Like most superheroes, Frank Castle's origins begin with the death of a family member; in his case, ALL OF THEM. In comics, it was due to be caught in the crossfire of a mob shootout.
I'm glad the series turned this into a political/military thriller in the vein of A Few Good Men and The General's Daughter (Or Jack Reacher. Is star Jon Bernthal a Scientologist?) instead of the vigilante justice that I was expecting as that would get old fast. I will note that Jon Bernthal used Denzel Washington's catchphrase "My man..." a lot which I'm convinced is a The Equalizer reference...
When they announced the cast, I noted they created many original (or at least unknown to me) characters but I really liked them. I'm not sure why the shortened Microchip's name to Micro and made him a love child of Bob Ross and Tom Green. I mean I know Drew Carey is busy but... In this version, he was presumed dead by his family but watched them via hidden cameras. Every time "Pete" would seem to get close to his wife and he'd visibly be pissed, I wanted to scream, "Hey, you're the one who decided to play dead..."
While watching Luke Cage, I waited and waited for Detective Misty Knight to get her arm ripped off so we could see her cybernetic replacement she's known for. Here, I similarly waited for "Pretty Boy" Billy "Jigsaw" Russo to fall face first through plate glass...
Since there was no black father figure character to kill off as is the norm with these Marvel Netflix shows (OK, Clifton Davis' character in Iron Fist wasn't really a father figure but he still died...), I thought for sure Tony Plana's FBI supervisor character would die. I was pleasantly surprised to see that was not the case...
In summary, I liked The Punisher much more than I thought I would but not sure I need a second season. I agree with another review that said the character works great as support but does he really need his own show? Sure it's worked some for sitcoms but dramas? None come to mind...
For reasons I didn't consider back then and don't care about now, comic books in the '90's saw the creation of more violent characters to presumably dispel the notion comics weren't just for kids. Ironman, Thor, Captain America and, perhaps ironically, Batman got more gritty counterparts and the Punisher (and Deadpool) was created. Like most superheroes, Frank Castle's origins begin with the death of a family member; in his case, ALL OF THEM. In comics, it was due to be caught in the crossfire of a mob shootout.
I'm glad the series turned this into a political/military thriller in the vein of A Few Good Men and The General's Daughter (Or Jack Reacher. Is star Jon Bernthal a Scientologist?) instead of the vigilante justice that I was expecting as that would get old fast. I will note that Jon Bernthal used Denzel Washington's catchphrase "My man..." a lot which I'm convinced is a The Equalizer reference...
When they announced the cast, I noted they created many original (or at least unknown to me) characters but I really liked them. I'm not sure why the shortened Microchip's name to Micro and made him a love child of Bob Ross and Tom Green. I mean I know Drew Carey is busy but... In this version, he was presumed dead by his family but watched them via hidden cameras. Every time "Pete" would seem to get close to his wife and he'd visibly be pissed, I wanted to scream, "Hey, you're the one who decided to play dead..."
While watching Luke Cage, I waited and waited for Detective Misty Knight to get her arm ripped off so we could see her cybernetic replacement she's known for. Here, I similarly waited for "Pretty Boy" Billy "Jigsaw" Russo to fall face first through plate glass...
Since there was no black father figure character to kill off as is the norm with these Marvel Netflix shows (OK, Clifton Davis' character in Iron Fist wasn't really a father figure but he still died...), I thought for sure Tony Plana's FBI supervisor character would die. I was pleasantly surprised to see that was not the case...
In summary, I liked The Punisher much more than I thought I would but not sure I need a second season. I agree with another review that said the character works great as support but does he really need his own show? Sure it's worked some for sitcoms but dramas? None come to mind...
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