25 Things You Need to Know about The Punisher on Netflix
By Shawn Lealos
The next Marvel Netflix series to hit the streaming network is The Punisher, which debuts on Nov. 17 in its entirety. This series is the continuation of the Marvel Netflix Universe, which started with Daredevil and most recently aired the team-up movie The Defenders.
The Punisher first appeared on Netflix during Daredevil Season 2, and this gives fans of the character a chance to see him in action on his own, the fourth time that a studio has attempted to bring Frank Castle to life, following three movies.
With Netflix continuing to produce fantastic Marvel entertainment focused on the ground-level superheroes, The Punisher is a perfect addition to the lineup and fans have to hope that it keeps the excellent track record that the streaming service has managed to pull off in their partnership with Marvel Comics.
With The Punisher set to finally hit the small screens, here are 25 things you need to know about Frank Castle, The Punisher, before binge-watching the latest Marvel Netflix series.
25. The Punisher First Appeared In ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #129
While it might be common knowledge to many long-time comic book readers, the entire origin of The Punisher came way back in 1974 in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man. The issue was #129, and a villain called The Jackal hired The Punisher to murder Spider-Man. It was a fascinating character that writer Gerry Conway introduced in these pages because The Punisher wasn’t a typical villain.
The origin and methods of The Punisher have not changed much since his introduction way back in The Amazing Spider-Man. While he was gunning for Spider-Man, The Punisher assumed that Spidey was a common crook and he kills all criminals under the assumption that the law will fail good people – and that is even more important with a superpowered villain, which he labeled Spider-Man.
This comic book also showed the honor that The Punisher fights with as he admonished The Jackal for attacking Spider-Man from behind in their first major battle. The comic then wrapped up when The Jackal killed one of The Punisher’s chief allies and tried to frame Spider-Man but failed. This betrayal caused Punisher to vow to find and eliminate The Jackal, becoming an antihero in the process.
After this comic book, The Punisher appeared in three more Spider-Man comics (Amazing Spider-Man #134, #135 and Giant-Size Spider-Man #4) before getting how own solo stories in Marvel Premiere. The Punisher remained mostly a Spider-Man side character until 1982.