It sure is a great time to be a Punisher fan. Frank Castle’s long-awaited solo series will finally be debuting on Netflix towards the end of 2017, and the drip-feed of teasers and reveals is slowly starting to increase in speed and size.
For the time being, the main source of information about the project is coming courtesy of Getty Images, who appear to have saturated New York with hidden photographers in the hopes of catching new Punisher set exclusives.
Last week they broke the news that Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio had joined the cast as a potential antagonist, and this week they’ve released some more pictures from the set, which are equally as enlightening.
At first glance, the images appear to be standard fayre, but when taken in the context of the Punisher’s precious Netflix outing in season 2 of ‘Daredevil’, and some other historical facts about the character from the comics, a number of facts emerge.
First up, it’s another change of image for Jon Bernthal’s incarnation of the character. Previous set photos had shown him with various lengths of beard (much to the chagrin of some hardcore Frank-fans). Now Bernthal is once again sporting a ‘high and tight’ hairline, with the beard shaved away.
This suggests two possible things will be happening in the new series. Firstly, Frank grew a beard to drop out of sight or in order to get close to a target in the aftermath of the events portrayed in ‘Daredevil’. Or, secondly, some of the new series will be done featuring flashbacks.
The ever-present black hoodie Bernthal is wearing also indicates a move away from the traditional uniform of the comics. The fans had to wait 13 agonizing episodes to see he skull logo last year, and when it did land it was sprayed onto body armour rather than a tee shirt. Whilst the comics Frank permanently has his logo on show to either intimidate his enemies or draw their fire, it looks like Bernthal will only be pulling it out for selected and special occasions.
Next up, a closer inspection of Frank’s head show a number of nasty fresh injuries. Once agin, as in ‘Daredevil’, it looks like the MCU’s most notorious vigilante will be captured and on the receiving end of just as much pain as he dishes out to the bad guys. So expect gruesome scenes, folks. Most likely involving power tools.
Finally, whilst the previous images showed Frank either running around, or carjacking a police cruiser, these show him riding in a dark colored van, with a rather prominent light stack mounted up at the front. This would appear to indicate that the Punisher’s legendary Battle Bus (a transit van pimped up to lethal specifications), may finally be jumping from be pages of the comics to our screens.
Given the direction that the Netflix/Marvel collaboration has gone so far, maybe it’s best not to expect a raft of James Bond-esque gadgets, as featured in the comics. But at the same time, we sincerely doubt this is a standard hire-vehicle that Frank’s sourced from somewhere, and there will be some hidden features.
As ever, as more info on ‘The Punisher’ surfaces online, we’ll bring it straight to you.
What do you think of the new pictures? Be sure to tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!