The Punisher



Marvel’s The Punisher is about a former Special Forces soldier who returns home from Afghanistan only to have his family murdered in the crossfire of rival gangs. Frank Castle swears vengeance and partakes in a killing spree of mobsters, corrupt government officials, and other disingenuous, villainous characters. He has no superpowers save his special armed forces training and high threshold for pain. His weapons of choice are guns, a lot of guns of all types. As a Netflix exclusive show, it was released in its entirety. Its storytelling format is not episodic. The first four episodes are basically exposition, introducing Frank Castle trying to cope with “regular life” after murdering all of the gang members he held responsible for the death of his family. The second and third episodes focuses on his soon-to-be ally Micro, the typical “man at the computer” archetype with his own trials and character arc. A Homeland Security agent Dinah Madani, is developed more in episodes three and four. There is also a side story of former soldiers dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, specifically a young man in named Lewis Wilson who ends up serving as a foil for Frank Castle. Castle is the former soldier dealing with issues who focuses his rage on crime. Wilson is the former soldier dealing with issues who focuses his rage on the government via bombings. Episode 11 presents the disaster moment, where Micro’s wife and children are kidnapped, leaving the protagonist no choice but to confront the antagonist and end their cat and mouse game. Episodes 12 and 13 each provide climax moments: one horrific eye-gouging murder for manipulative government official antagonist William Rawlins that had been torturing him for the entirety of episode 12; and a supremely disturbing yet somehow survivable climax for best-friend turned antagonist Billy Russo in episode 13. The stretching and altering of the typical television plot structure is not the only benefit Netflix provides the show over basic cable. The show has a lot of dark themes and real world parallels. Splinter News asks how we can justify the idea of a gun-toting superhero in an era where mass shootings are too common. Sam Thielman of The Guardian echoes this concern, asking if there will ever be a time when such a character can have his own show without causing controversy. “The problem with Frank Castle, and the solution to writing him well, is that if you sympathize with him, something has gone terribly wrong somewhere.”  Though written earlier than Thielman’s article, Pulliam-Moore has another article about the preview for Marvel’s The Punisher being pulled in the wake of the Las Vegas shootings. “…that kind of story ultimately ends up casting a man who is more or less a mass shooter in a positive light…the studio is always going to be in this difficult situation when it comes to Frank Castle unless it directly engages with the elements of the character that echo mass shootings.” These three articles highlight the controversy of making a show centered on the Punisher, controversy basic cable would rather not have to explain to advertisers.

The theme of the show is not promote mass shootings or glorify a revenge fantasy, but something deeper and more complex. “Fortunately, Marvel’s latest Netflix outing seems to be aware of the potential pitfalls of glorifying a mass murderer. The Punisher spends much of its runtime deconstructing its own premise, suggesting that vigilantism is monstrous when put into practice.” Eric Weiss of TV Guide wrote about the foil of Lewis Wilson vs. Frank Castle. He further dissected the characterization of Frank and compared him to other superheroes. “The trick relies on an aura of absolute righteousness. In order to support the hero, the audience needs to believe that he (and it is usually he) is fundamentally incorruptible, which is why Batman’s (and Superman’s and Spider-Man’s and Daredevil’s) moratorium on killing is so vital to his character. That gets a little more complicated with the Punisher, but the same basic idea holds true. We root for him because we’re convinced that he would never, under any circumstances, kill the wrong people. The trouble is that that sort of clarity simply does not exist in the real world — and only debatably exists in fiction. The Punisher toes that line, using reality to blur the uncompromising vision of its protagonist.”

Alexander Zalben, reviewer for TV Guide, dugpast the violence for something more. “An exchange between two main characters in the series' seventh episode as they plan to invade a military compound makes it clear that there are rules: The Punisher does not want to kill innocents, and doesn't look at soldiers as endless video game style bodies to dispose with, but actual human beings forced into bad circumstances. And beyond that, there's a cost, as one man cautions the other not to kill without reason. These people have families, they have home lives. There are people who know and love them, even if they've ended up on the wrong side of The Punisher's law.”

With such controversy and complicated narrative, why would anyone want to bother creating such a show based on such a horrific character? “Nearly every successful television writer will point to character as the focal point of their creative process and how they measure success--if you can create compelling characters, then engaging scenarios and storylines will likely follow suit,” (Mittell). Frank Castle can exist on television because of streaming services allowing creative storytelling, on-demand viewing, and the abundance of paratext. It is no mistake that The Punisher show was released after Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Defenders. These shows all feature characters grittier than those found in the deep Marvel Cinematic Universe. Without the gloss and spectacle of the MCU, the grit and grounded realism of those shows--all of which exclusive to Netflix’s internet television--might not have been as appreciated. Without the street level yet high moral authority superhero already established, Frank Castle could not be understood and appreciated. The Punisher exists to show what superheroes should not be, the direct foil to those that have come before instead of an idol to be admired. A show about a character that should not exist does not seem conducive to attract advertisers, but fits right in on the streaming services of internet television.