In 2019, Marvel Television and Marvel Family Entertainment moved under the single banner of Marvel Studios. This movement, along with Disney vying and securing the rights to almost all Marvel characters, led to the cancellation of the Netflix Marvel shows and the heartbreak of fans everywhere. Many of the shows were fan favorites, but none perhaps more than the violent, action-packed The Punisher series. The show followed the intense and rageful character of Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) after the death of his family and his quest for vengeance.

The show quickly garnered a following and an incredible support system through its fans. However, after two seasons, the show was canceled. It wasn’t until recently, when previous Netflix-era Marvel characters – Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin – were seen in the studio’s newest ventures of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Disney+’s Hawkeye that fans began to hope for a resurrection of not only The Punisher but also the rest of the critically acclaimed shows. However, many supporters and even the actors who made the characters what they are have said that the resurrection of these shows will only work if done right.

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The Punisher Gets Canceled

     Netflix

The Punisher is a series on Netflix based on the Marvel Comics centered around the character of the same name. Like the others on the streaming service, the show acknowledged the events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and was a spin-off of the first Marvel Netflix series, Daredevil (2015-2018). Despite its critical response, the show’s first season was quickly gaining popularity with fans, and even went on to win a Saturn Award in 2018 and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series, or Movie.

The second season was ordered in December 2017, only a month after the initial season’s release. The season was released in the midst of the restructuring of Marvel under Kevin Feige, who had recently become the Chief Creative Officer and President of Marvel Studios. While the show’s new season did not do as well as the first, there were comments from showrunner Lightfoot that made viewers think that anything not explored in the season would undoubtedly be explored in further ones. However, the show was soon canceled on February 18, 2019.

The Punisher’s Fandom

     Netflix 

From the beginning, fans remarked on Bernthal’s ability to play the vulnerable parts of Frank Castle as well as the blood-thirsty ones. Fans were outraged when the show was canceled, including none other than rapper Eminem, who turned to Twitter saying, “DEAR @NETFLIX, REGARDING YOUR CANCELLATION OF THE PUNISHER, YOU ARE BLOWING IT!! SINCERELY, MARSHALL.” Bernthal then responded to the rapper stating, “Dear Em. Honored you watch brother. You are the King.” The actor also took to Instagram, thanking the fans of the show and saying what an honor it was to “walk in his [Castle’s] boots.” He continued to say:

The Punisher’s Possible Resurrection

While many assumed that was the end for Bernthal’s Castle, the door on the matter seems to have creaked open once again. With Disney+ now owning the rights to the Netflix-era characters, and hints of returning titans Jessica Jones and Daredevil, this could mean that The Punisher is up next.

“I’m eternally grateful to the comic fans and the men and women of the Armed Services and law enforcement community who Frank means so much to. Thank you to the USMC and all the wonderful soldiers who trained me. Go Hard. Be safe.”

By 2020, however, there was much else on everyone’s mind, and soon fans began to remember and wonder, “What had and would become of their favorite heroes and antiheroes? It wasn’t until 2021, when Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin showed up in the fifth episode of Disney+’s Hawkeye, that there were rumblings of the possibility of other characters returning. That rumbling turned into an all-out roar when Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock made a brief and surprising appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. But with the excitement of a possible return comes the question of if the family-friendly conglomerate could take a show like The Punisher and do it justice.

The Punisher’s Catch 22

     Disney+

Disney has always been a company to put out wholesome and family-related content. Still, with their recent merging with FOX and their branching to other streaming services such as Hulu, the company could have the means to make a resurrection of The Punisher work and work well. Even in their own recent ventures, Moon Knight and the upcoming reboot of Blade, it seems that Disney is willing to take on more adult-marketed content. However, not everyone is thrilled with the possibility. Since the Defenders Saga has been placed on Disney’s service, The Parents of Television Council have made their outrage known, saying that the R-rated content and “TV-MA rated fare will forever tarnish its family-friendly crown.” However, when looking at the statistics, half of the streaming services subscribers are adults without children.

But it is not only the fans that must be convinced for the show to ever come to fruition. Jon Bernthal has also remarked on his experience as Frank Castle and his relationship with the character. He has said that the character is “really in [his] heart…in [his] bones,” and he is “enormously protective” of him. In response to rumors of a return, the actor has said:

He ended his impassioned discussion with a statement that all fans and parties interested in the resurrection of The Punisher could agree with, “I’m only interested in doing it right.”

“It needs a level of darkness…if you let up on that character you do a disservice to the character, to every iteration of the character, to every comic book that’s come before, and to all the unbelievable fans of the character.”