Hey guys, I’m Mike and I think the Punisher is easily the best thing to come out of all the Netflix Marvel shows.
Frank Castle was the standout of ‘Daredevil’ season 2, and I can’t wait to see him go HAM in his upcoming solo series.
There’s a ton of Punisher stories for the show to draw inspiration from.
But I hope Netflix’s ‘Punisher’ is going to be the adaptation that finally does Garth Ennis justice.
Parts of his work have shown up in various ‘Punisher’ films over the years.
But outside the MCU version, none of them have captured the depth and darkness that Ennis brought to the character.
Let’s take a look at Garth Ennis’s impact on the Punisher.
Starting with The Pre-Ennis Era
The Punisher was created as a Spider-Man villain in 1974, but he didn’t reach the peak
of his popularity until the grim and gritty craze of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
The 1989 ‘Punisher’ movie starring Dolph Lundgren was a decent adaptation of this era’s comics.
Holy shit, the Punisher! It's him! Move in for a closeup!
Even though he never wears the skull.
But in true Punisher form, the film doesn’t skimp on the bodycount.
Even then, it just feels like a generic revenge flick.
Grow up and be a good man, cause if not, I'll be waiting.
That’s because Frank Castle hadn’t really been defined as a character yet.
We knew he was a Vietnam veteran killing to avenge his murdered family, but beyond that, he was still mostly a cookie-cutter ‘Death Wish’ clone.
By the late ‘90s, the character had kinda fizzled out.
At least until Garth Ennis came along, with 'Welcome Back, Frank.'
When Ennis and ‘Preacher’ artist Steve Dillon got their hands on the Punisher, he was in a sorry state.
At the time, Frank Castle was an avenging angel who fought demons with magic Jesus guns.
Ennis and Dillon threw that out the window and gave Frank a back-to-basics revamp in 2000.
Unlike the later MAX series, this Marvel Knights 'Punisher' was firmly embedded on Earth-616.
This series is full of black humor and insane action.
Like when Frank unloads a shotgun into Wolverine’s crotch and runs him over with a steamroller.
After a team-up to fight a gang of evil little people who are kidnapping folks and hobbling them at the knees.
Or the infamous zoo chase, where Frank literally punches a polar bear in the face so it’ll maul an old lady.
Ennis can be serious too, like the issue where the Punisher hunts down an old squadmate from Vietnam who murdered his own family.
Castle knows he’s not the only one who got “a taste for something bad” during the war, and he takes pity on his dark reflection.
As much as he can, anyway.
Garth Ennis’s Punisher is one of the best examples of dancing that fine line between hero and killer.
The movies? Not so much.
Let’s talk about 2004’s 'The Punisher.'
You are one dumb sonofabitch. Brang a knife to a gunfight.
This might have been my biggest cinematic disappointment since the ‘Star Wars’ prequels.
Right off the bat, they moved the Punisher from the slimy streets of New York to the sunny beaches of Miami, just because it was cheaper to film there.
That was screenwriter Michael France’s idea.
He also convinced the studio that Garth Ennis’s gory comedy would never work on screen.
So instead, we got a bland revenge movie starring Tom Jane.
Jane actually makes a pretty great Frank Castle.
He proved it in the awesome ‘Dirty Laundry’ short film.
You know the difference between justice and punishment?
But this movie’s portrayal of Frank Castle is fundamentally flawed.
He’s not a sociopath. He’s not a serial killer.
He’s just an ex-FBI agent who lost his family and is looking for justice.
It's been five months since my family was killed. I don't see one man in jail.
Obviously, you're upset.
Upset? Is that the word?
The move desperately wants you to empathize with him, when you're supposed to be scared shitless.
Frank isn't supposed to be Batman. He's a deranged lunatic.
You look like a strong kid. You must work out. This anti-personell mine weighs eight pounds.
Don't leave me like this!
You took everything from me.
You killed my son!
Both of them.
He’s basically the comic book version of Travis Bickle.
How's everything in the pimp business? Huh? Suck on this.
Sure, some of Ennis’s characters showed up, like Spacker Dave and the Russian.
But they felt out-of-place in the dull Florida setting.
I can’t fault the movie too much for missing the mark,
Ennis’s real defining run started the exact same year:
Punisher MAX
If the Marvel Knights comics were hilariously over-the-top, Punisher MAX is as serious as a crazy vigilante shooting up a mobster’s birthday.
It’s one of the best runs in comic history, and it pretty much defined Frank Castle despite the fact that this isn’t the “real” deal.
See, Punisher MAX is set in an alternate universe without superheroes or sliding timelines.
With the freedom of Marvel’s adults-only MAX imprint, the brutality on the page could finally match the horrorshow going on in Frank’s head.
There’s a scene in MAX that perfectly sums up the Punisher for me, where he describes a recurring nightmare:
He’s finally killed all the criminals in the world, from the lowly hitmen to the fat-cat CEOs.
His work is finally done.
But he doesn’t stop.
He turns his rage on the innocent, because his bloodlust can never be quenched.
You get the impression from Ennis’s run that the death of Castle’s family is just a flimsy excuse for his decades-long killing spree.
In the ‘Born’ miniseries set during Frank’s service in Vietnam, he makes an unholy pact with the voice in his head.
To survive a hopeless battle, he gives in to the primal rage thats boiling beneath his surface.
Castle gets his wish for an unending war, but he’d have to pay a horrible price.
Now don’t get me wrong, the MAX run can still be pretty funny.
Ennis managed to find the perfect balance between humor and horror.
But the next movie, 'Punisher War Zone,' went way too far in one direction.
I actually kinda like this movie.
It’s utterly insane.
‘War Zone’ is probably the only time in cinematic history a parkouring irishman is blown out of the sky with an RPG.
And Ray Stevenson looks just like the battered old bastard from Punisher MAX.
Problem is, the movie has the gore and vulgarity of the MAX comics, but without any of the depth.
Instead, it leans hard on the humor from the Marvel Knights-era.
Like Uncle Sam. We recruit in trouble neighborhoods, promise people
100 grand they're never gonna get, promise nobody has to go to Iraq.
But they even fumbled the ball there.
It’s great to see Detective Soap in all his pathetic glory.
And Wayne Knight plays a pretty solid Microchip.
Well, if you watch closely enough you just might see me! Newman!
But Jigsaw and his brother are the campiest comic movie villains since Two-Face and the Riddler.
You can’t take them seriously, and it makes the whole movie seem like a cheesy cartoon.
Let me put you out of my misery.
There’s just no room to explore the crevices of Frank Castle’s f*cked-up mind.
That’s why I’m glad the MCU Punisher has the space of a TV series to work with.
I love how they used ‘Daredevil’ as a vehicle to introduce Frank Castle.
Since he’s not the protagonist, the show doesn’t have to overcompensate for all the evil shit he does in order to make you like him.
Who was there that day? Who killed my family? Who cares?
Frank’s still a sympathetic character, but from our hero’s point of view he’s a stone-cold killer.
I'm just some crazy asshole going around unloading on whoever I want to, huh?
You think you're anything else?
He literally shoots Daredevil in the face!
Bang.
The Netflix shows aren’t just using Ennis’s work for window-dressing.
‘Daredevil’ based a whole episode on the rooftop showdown from ‘Welcome Back, Frank.’
But my favorite part has to be Frank’s courtroom testimony.
The ones that put down people I killed. I want you to know I'd do it all again. This is a circus, a charade, an act.
It’s just like in ‘A Few Good Men’ where Jack Nicholson justifies his own horrific actions.
You've had the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago's death probably saved lives. And my existence saves lives!
You can't handle the truth because deep down, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall!
He knows that society might not agree with the means, but they sure as hell like the
ends, as long as someone’s willing to do the dirty work that everyone else is afraid to.
The difference is, Frank Castle enjoys it.
And any scumbag, any lowlife, any maggot piece of shit that
I put down, I did it because I like it! Hell, I loved it!
And that the sinister twist that Garth Ennis introduced to the character almost 20 years ago.
And it’s great to see it brought to light in live action.
And I can’t wait to see Netflix and Marvel finally unleash the real Frank Castle in next year's 'Punisher' series.
See you around, Red.