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The first season of the American streaming television series '' The Punisher'', which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, sees Frank Castle uncover a conspiracy while seeking revenge for the death of his family. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with
the films The Films were an American indie pop rock band from Charleston, South Carolina, and consisted of Michael Trent, Kenneth Harris, Jake Sinclair, and Adam Blake. The band members met in high school and in 2006 recorded/produced the EP ''Being Bored ...
and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and
Bohemian Risk Productions This is a list of television production companies, sorted by country. Australia Egypt * Studio Misr * Lotus Film Production * Ramses Naguib * Salah Zulfikar Films * Mary Queeny Films * Egyptian Media Production City * Dollar Film * New C ...
, with
Steve Lightfoot Steve Lightfoot (sometimes credited as Steven Lightfoot or Robert Scott Fraser) is a British television writer and producer who worked as an executive producer and writer on the NBC thriller television series ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'', ...
serving as
showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
. Jon Bernthal stars as Castle, alongside
Ebon Moss-Bachrach Ebon Moss-Bachrach (born March 19, 1977) is an American actor best known for playing the role of David Lieberman in ''The Punisher'' and Desi Harperin in ''Girls''. Since 2022, Moss-Bachrach has played Richard "Richie" Jerimovich in the drama s ...
, Ben Barnes,
Amber Rose Revah Amber Rose Revah (born 24 June 1986) is a British actress, writer, and voice artist. She is best known for playing the roles of Dinah Madani in Marvel's '' The Punisher'', Mika in MGM limited series Last Light and as Mary Magdalene in the box ...
, Daniel Webber, Paul Schulze,
Jason R. Moore Jason R. Moore is a Jamaican-American actor based in Los Angeles, California. Career Jason Moore was born in Kingston, Jamaica, but grew up in Albany, New York. He moved to New York City after graduating college, and soon after acquired roles o ...
, Michael Nathanson, Jaime Ray Newman, and Deborah Ann Woll. Development on ''The Punisher'' as a spin-off from ''
Daredevil Daredevil may refer to: * A stunt performer Arts and media Comics * Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro * Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superher ...
'' began by January 2016, and it was ordered to series in April. Lightfoot was announced as executive producer and showrunner, with Bernthal and Woll reprising their roles from ''Daredevil''. Filming took place in New York City from October 2016 to April 2017. Practical effects were augmented by the visual effects department, including the addition of muzzle flashes and gore to fight scenes. The season explores post-traumatic stress disorder for military veterans, and depicts "all sides" of the United States gun control debate. The season premiered in New York City on November 6, 2017, with the full season of thirteen episodes released on November 17 on Netflix, and received mixed to positive reviews, with Bernthal's performance, action sequences and improvements to its source material from the previous films gaining praise, but criticism towards its pacing and amount of violence. A surprise release had been planned for October, but was cancelled following the
2017 Las Vegas shooting On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in . From his 32nd-floor suites in the Mandalay Bay hotel, he fired ...
. A second season was ordered in December 2017.


Episodes


Cast and characters


Main

* Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher *
Ebon Moss-Bachrach Ebon Moss-Bachrach (born March 19, 1977) is an American actor best known for playing the role of David Lieberman in ''The Punisher'' and Desi Harperin in ''Girls''. Since 2022, Moss-Bachrach has played Richard "Richie" Jerimovich in the drama s ...
as David Lieberman / Micro * Ben Barnes as Billy Russo *
Amber Rose Revah Amber Rose Revah (born 24 June 1986) is a British actress, writer, and voice artist. She is best known for playing the roles of Dinah Madani in Marvel's '' The Punisher'', Mika in MGM limited series Last Light and as Mary Magdalene in the box ...
as
Dinah Madani ''Marvel's The Punisher'' is an American television series created by Steve Lightfoot for the streaming service Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics character Punisher. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), acknowledging the continu ...
* Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson * Paul Schulze as
William Rawlins This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
*
Jason R. Moore Jason R. Moore is a Jamaican-American actor based in Los Angeles, California. Career Jason Moore was born in Kingston, Jamaica, but grew up in Albany, New York. He moved to New York City after graduating college, and soon after acquired roles o ...
as
Curtis Hoyle This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
* Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein * Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman * Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page


Recurring

* Shohreh Aghdashloo as Farah Madani * Jordan Mahome as Isaac Lange * Kelli Barrett as Maria Castle * Aidan Pierce Brennan as
Frank Castle Jr. This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
* Nicolette Pierini as
Lisa Castle This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
* Ripley Sobo as Leo Lieberman * Kobi Frumer as Zach Lieberman *
Tony Plana José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show ''Ugly Betty'' and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video game ''Grim ...
as Rafael Hernandez


Notable guests

*
Geoffrey Cantor Geoffrey N. Cantor (born 1943) is Emeritus Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds and Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London. He h ...
as
Mitchell Ellison Earth Lord Earth Sentry Earth Sentry (John Foster) was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, and first appeared in ''A-Next'' #2 (1999) in the Marvel Comics 2, MC2 universe. When John and his father Bill Foster (comics), Bill were investigati ...
* Clancy Brown as Ray Schoonover * Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett *
Royce Johnson Royce J. Johnson is an American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker best known for his recurring role in the MCU as Sgt. / Detective Sergeant Brett Mahoney in the Netflix series '' Daredevil'', '' Jessica Jones'', and ''The Punisher''. Early lif ...
as
Brett Mahoney Detective Brett Mahoney is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a strictly loyal police detective who finds himself involved in the activities of superhumans. He was portrayed by Royce Johnson ...


Production


Development

By January 2016, ahead of the ''
Daredevil Daredevil may refer to: * A stunt performer Arts and media Comics * Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro * Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superher ...
''
season two Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * ''2econd Season ''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk. Release It was released on November 4, 2008. Guest Performers The album features gu ...
release, Netflix was in "very early development" on a spin-off series titled '' The Punisher'', and was looking for a
showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
. The series would be centered on Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher, and was described as a stand-alone series apart from those leading up to '' The Defenders'' crossover event. That April, Netflix officially ordered a full 13-episode season of ''The Punisher'', confirmed Bernthal's involvement, and named
Steve Lightfoot Steve Lightfoot (sometimes credited as Steven Lightfoot or Robert Scott Fraser) is a British television writer and producer who worked as an executive producer and writer on the NBC thriller television series ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'', ...
as executive producer and showrunner. Asked whether he would rather have a 10-episode season given the longer 13 episode-seasons have been criticized for other Marvel Netflix series, Lightfoot said that he wanted the season to be a "slow burn show" that was character-driven, and that he felt they had the right amount of story to fill the 13 episodes.


Writing

Lightfoot had a loose idea of what the "journey of Season 1" would be when he joined the series, and this was fleshed-out and altered in the writers room throughout work on the season. Executive producer Jeph Loeb said the season would ask the questions "Who is Frank? What is Frank going to do? And who's going to try and stop Frank?" Lightfoot chose not to adapt any specific version of the character from the comics and instead looked to the work that was done in ''Daredevil'' defining the character. That series' depiction was what got Lightfoot interested in the character, and he wanted it to dictate this series' direction. ''The Punisher'' begins with a teaser featuring Castle killing the gang members that he believes are responsible for his family's death, which is a conclusion to the character's story in ''Daredevil''. The series then jumps ahead to the character "stuck in the past and sort of crippled by this grief". The season also depicts some events from before the second season of ''Daredevil'', which Bernthal described as being "loose with chronology"; this includes an explanation of Castle's time serving in Kandahar, which had been mentioned in ''Daredevil'' and was something that Lightfoot felt this series should address. As a fan of Westerns and 1970s urban thrillers, Lightfoot felt that the series should combine those ideas due to Castle's antihero persona being an archetype of Western films but set in the urban environment of New York City. Lightfoot looked to films from those genres as inspiration for tone and style, ideas, and themes for the series, and also looked to 1970s
conspiracy thriller The conspiracy thriller (or paranoid thriller) is a subgenre of thriller fiction. The protagonists of conspiracy thrillers are often journalists or amateur investigators who find themselves (often inadvertently) pulling on a small thread which unr ...
films due to Castle being a fugitive in the series and the general sense of paranoia. The series makes a reference to '' Marathon Man'' (1976), while Lightfoot described the first episode of the series as a modern "updating" of '' Shane'' (1953). Lightfoot also took inspiration from the ''Bourne'' film series and the film ''
American Sniper ''American Sniper'' is a 2014 American biographical war drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall. It is loosely based on the memoir ''American Sniper'' (2012) by Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. The film fo ...
'' (2014) for the series. Regarding his previous television series ''
Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
'', Lightfoot stated that he learned from that series' creator
Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American television writer and producer who has created a number of television series, including ''Dead Like Me'', ''Wonderfalls'', ''Pushing Daisies'', '' Hannibal'', and '' American Gods.'' Fuller worked a ...
to make an antihero like Hannibal Lecter relatable to the audience by finding "something in them that's universal that we can all feel", such as Lector being lonely. Carrying this over to ''The Punisher'', Lightfoot saw in Castle the idea of "a man whose family was taken from him at a young age" and that a series focused on him should be an exploration of his grief and how he responds to it. Lightfoot felt that even audience members who did not agree with Castle's actions would be able to go on a "journey" with the character if they understood this aspect of him. Rather than show the "beautiful" scenes of horror that were created for ''Hannibal'', Lightfoot wanted to follow the lead of the character's fight scenes in ''Daredevil'' by not shying away from the cost of the actual actions, feeling that showing the brutal reality of Castle's actions would better convey to the audience that "This stuff hurts, and it's not OK" rather than glossing over the violence which he felt would have been worse. He elaborated that he was unsure if the series was the most violent Marvel Netflix series, as he was simply taking the level of violence he saw depicted in ''Daredevil'' as a baseline for this series, and that it is important to remember that "a lot of what he's doing is wrong. We have to let the audience lose him at times and let him win them back. To just wholeheartedly be behind him wouldn't be right". Despite this, Lightfoot wanted to convey the character's feelings and thoughts to help the audience understand the character, and often used flashbacks or dreams featuring his family since Castle does not talk much and having constant flashbacks also represented how he is unable to stop thinking about them. Lightfoot described Castle as a metaphor for "the fact that we've been sending men to war for 15 years now and then bringing them back and expecting them to just fit back in. Clearly, that isn't what happens." Having not served in the military himself, Lightfoot spent time with the rest of the series' writers reading first-person accounts and memoirs from real-life war veterans, and the series also had consultants from the military, the Special Forces, and the CIA including one military consultant who read every script of the series and gave notes. Noting that a vocal community of United States soldiers and veterans were fans of the Punisher character, Lightfoot and Bernthal ensured that the series was always respectful of the military and law enforcement despite Castle's actions being generally criminal; Lightfoot said it was an "interesting thing to be respectful of the police and at the same time, the character is beyond the law." Feeling that it was not his place to preach about the politics of vigilantism or the United States gun control debate, Lightfoot wanted to create a "body of characters where you feel like all sides and issues were given a voice so the audience can decide", from a veteran who is a "gentle group-therapy leader" to a "gun nut". When creating an original character for the series to serve as the "tough nemesis cop" who is hunting Castle, Lightfoot decided to "mix the paradigm up" by making the character female and his equal. Lightfoot noted that the writer's room, which included both men and women, had "a lot of fun" with this idea. They also wanted the character to be of Middle Eastern descent and be as big of a patriot as Castle and an action hero in her own right. This character became
Dinah Madani ''Marvel's The Punisher'' is an American television series created by Steve Lightfoot for the streaming service Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics character Punisher. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), acknowledging the continu ...
. Lightfoot did not want the "spiderweb" of supporting characters in the series to be "sidekicks" to Castle, and instead have "their own narrative and their own story that was the most important thing to them".


Casting

The main cast for the season includes Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher,
Ebon Moss-Bachrach Ebon Moss-Bachrach (born March 19, 1977) is an American actor best known for playing the role of David Lieberman in ''The Punisher'' and Desi Harperin in ''Girls''. Since 2022, Moss-Bachrach has played Richard "Richie" Jerimovich in the drama s ...
as David Lieberman / Micro, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo,
Amber Rose Revah Amber Rose Revah (born 24 June 1986) is a British actress, writer, and voice artist. She is best known for playing the roles of Dinah Madani in Marvel's '' The Punisher'', Mika in MGM limited series Last Light and as Mary Magdalene in the box ...
as
Dinah Madani ''Marvel's The Punisher'' is an American television series created by Steve Lightfoot for the streaming service Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics character Punisher. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), acknowledging the continu ...
, Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson, Paul Schulze as
William Rawlins This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
,
Jason R. Moore Jason R. Moore is a Jamaican-American actor based in Los Angeles, California. Career Jason Moore was born in Kingston, Jamaica, but grew up in Albany, New York. He moved to New York City after graduating college, and soon after acquired roles o ...
as
Curtis Hoyle This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
, Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein, Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman, and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page. Bernthal and Woll both reprise their roles from ''Daredevil''. In August 2017, Shohreh Aghdashloo was revealed to be portraying Farah Madani, Dinah's mother, in a recurring role for the season. Also recurring in the season are Jordan Mahome as Isaac Lange, Kelli Barrett as Maria Castle, Aidan Pierce Brennan as
Frank Castle Jr. This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
, Nicolette Pierini as
Lisa Castle This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
, Ripley Sobo as Leo Lieberman, Kobi Frumer as Zach Lieberman, and
Tony Plana José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show ''Ugly Betty'' and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video game ''Grim ...
as Rafael Hernandez. Rob Morgan and
Royce Johnson Royce J. Johnson is an American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker best known for his recurring role in the MCU as Sgt. / Detective Sergeant Brett Mahoney in the Netflix series '' Daredevil'', '' Jessica Jones'', and ''The Punisher''. Early lif ...
reprise their roles from previous Marvel Netflix series as Turk Barrett and
Brett Mahoney Detective Brett Mahoney is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a strictly loyal police detective who finds himself involved in the activities of superhumans. He was portrayed by Royce Johnson ...
, respectively.
Geoffrey Cantor Geoffrey N. Cantor (born 1943) is Emeritus Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds and Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London. He h ...
and Clancy Brown reprise their respective ''Daredevil'' roles as
Mitchell Ellison Earth Lord Earth Sentry Earth Sentry (John Foster) was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, and first appeared in ''A-Next'' #2 (1999) in the Marvel Comics 2, MC2 universe. When John and his father Bill Foster (comics), Bill were investigati ...
and Ray Schoonover. In addition to several actors portraying war veterans, including Mahome, the series also cast real-life war veterans as extras and supporting cast for scenes such as support group meetings. Mahome, whose father served in the military, found this to be a powerful experience and helpful for his acting in the series.


Design

Stephanie Maslansky, who served as costume designer for the first seasons of ''Daredevil'', ''
Jessica Jones Jessica Campbell Jones Cage is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appeared in ''Alias'' #1 (November 2001) ...
'', ''
Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...
'', and '' Iron Fist'', had the choice between designing for ''The Defenders'' or for ''The Punisher'' due to a scheduling conflict between the two productions, and chose to work on ''The Defenders''. Instead, Lorraine Calvert designed the costumes for ''The Punisher'' after introducing the look of the character in the second season of ''Daredevil''; her take on the character's "beloved" comic-inspired costume balances the original design, Bernthal's needs as an actor and interpretation of the character, and Lightfoot's intentions for the tone of the series.


Filming

Filming began on October 3, 2016, in Brooklyn, New York, under the working title ''Crime''. Locations for the production included
Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn ...
, the Williamsburg Bridge,
Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the so ...
and Central Park West, Cortlandt Alley,
Circle Line Downtown Circle Line Downtown is a sightseeing harbor cruise company that operates out of the South Street Seaport Pavilion Pier at the Financial District in Manhattan under Harbor Experience Companies. History Circle Line Downtown was established by Pre ...
cruises, the Manhattan Family Court building,
Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...
, Grand Ferry Park in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Sunnyside, Queens, Pulaski Bridge, the
Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...
and its steam plant, the Bronx County Courthouse,
Newtown Creek Newtown Creek, a long tributary of the East River, is an estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City. Channelization made it one of the most heavily-used bodies of water in the Port of N ...
,
The Roosevelt Hotel The Roosevelt Hotel is a former hotel and a shelter for asylum seekers at 45 East 45th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Named in honor of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, the hotel was developed by the New ...
, Astoria Park, Tudor City,
Hunts Point, Bronx Hunts Point is a neighborhood located on a peninsula in the South Bronx of New York City. It is the location of one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world, the Hunts Point Cooperative Market. Its boundaries are the Bruckner Exp ...
, the
Forest Park Carousel The Forest Park Carousel is a historic carousel at Forest Park in Queens, New York City. The carousel, one of two known surviving carousels built by Daniel Carl Muller, was built circa 1903 and contains 52 figures and its original band organ. ''S ...
, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, the " GoodFellas Diner" before it was damaged in a 2018 fire and the Mount Zion Cemetery, both in
Maspeth, Queens Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside ...
, and in Astoria, Queens. A car chase for the season was filmed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in night shoots, with Moss-Bachrach driving one of the cars. Filming for the season wrapped on April 9, 2017.


Visual effects

Visual effects supervisor Greg Anderson and vendor
FuseFX FuseFX is a motion picture special visual effects (VFX) company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Their creative studios include FuseFX, Folks VFX, Rising Sun Pictures and El Ranchito. Established in 2006, the company develops visual ...
returned from the first season of ''Luke Cage'' to create the visual effects for ''The Punisher'', creating 855 visual effects shots across the season. Their team changed in size for each episode, but generally consisted of 15 to 20 people. Due to the realistic tone of the series, which does not feature any superpowers, the visual effects department had to work even harder than usual to ensure their effects were believable, with a focus on creating "gunplay, knifeplay, explosions and other real world effects." They preferred to augment practical effects rather than start from scratch to help with realism as well as the series' budget and schedule. As an example of the work Fuse did during fight sequences, Anderson discussed the scene where Russo and his men attack Micro's basement. Though practical prop weapons were used for the fight, Fuse had to augment the action with computer generated blood, knives, and muzzle flashes, as well as a computer generated head that is blown apart by a shotgun. The sequence was thoroughly storyboarded and pre-visualized to plan out the exact visuals required. Because the scene, like many others throughout the season, required a dark environment the visual effects team had to work with the cinematography department to decide where the low-light should be practical and where color-grading could be used to alter a more brightly lit set given it is difficult to integrate visual effects with dark images. Conversely to this scene, a sequence such as when Russo blows up a hideout required minimal visual effects work because the explosion was shot practically, with Fuse mainly just adding some windows to the building that were removed for the explosion. The most technically difficult scene of the season to create was in the first episode, where Castle shoots someone from across the Mexico–United States border. Anderson estimated that the scene was 90 percent digital, with the environment between Castle and his target created entirely by the visual effects department. So that Moore could portray amputee
Curtis Hoyle This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. The ...
, Fuse had to digitally replace his leg in several shots. This involved Moore wearing a green sleeve over his leg and Fuse replacing it with a stump. The company also had to recreate the background behind Moore's actual leg which was often the most difficult part, such as when he is getting out of bed and realistic-looking digital cloth needed to match with the actual sheets that were on set. Additionally, visual effects were used to augment cement in the sequence where people are thrown into it. The special effects department created a mixture to look like cement for use while filming the scene, but it ultimately did not look realistic on camera and had to be changed digitally.


Music

In April 2017, Tyler Bates was announced as the composer for ''The Punisher'', after previously composing for Marvel's '' Guardians of the Galaxy'' and ''
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'' is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to ' ...
''. In order to "get into the dark corners of the Punisher's mind," Bates played "more of a broken blues" guitar, which was augmented with talkbox effects and other "guitar noises", along with guitar-vol and melodica. On this style, Bates said, "The rough edges and broken nature of usic like thisleaves a great deal of space for emotion and interesting color—and a bit of an attitude. Otherwise it's not going to be an authentic expression of the idea. There's a darkness in there that I'm happy to tap into." A soundtrack album for the season was released digitally by
Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...
on November 17, 2017, in conjunction with the season's Netflix release. All music composed by Tyler Bates:


Marketing

Bernthal and Woll appeared at New York Comic Con in October 2016 to officially announce the start of production on the series and the latter's involvement, while Bernthal presented exclusive footage from the series at San Diego Comic-Con 2017. A teaser was revealed on Netflix in August 2017 after the credits of the final episode of ''The Defenders''. Also in the month, the series' Twitter account revealed the episode titles as
Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
messages. In September 2017, the series'
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
account released viral videos made to look like security footage, while episodic photos and a poster for the season with a redacted release date were also released. On September 20, the official trailer for the season was released. Andrew Liptak of '' The Verge'' said it "sets up ''The Punisher'' with its own distinct tone that's different from the other Marvel Netflix shows. It wades into government conspiracies and hacking, which is reminiscent of shows like CBS's ''
Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...
'' or
USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
's ''
Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression and dissociative ...
'', but with more gunfire." Nerdist's Kendall Ashley called the trailer "intense, super bloody, and has eINCREDIBLY pumped for the show's premiere." She added that "if this trailer is any indication, ''The Punisher'' is definitely going to live up to fan expectations". Ashley felt the inclusion of "
One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
" by
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
in the trailer "helps paint Frank as a badass unlike any we've seen on the Marvel Netflix shows so far." Cooper Hood, writing for
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...
felt the trailer would "only increase the fever for" the series despite it not yet having a release date, with it more closely fitting the "mold" of the character than the more cryptic videos previously released. He also found it "well-cut" to the beat of the song, which he praised as "amplifying the intensity". By the end of September, Netflix had updated their viral website for the ''New York Bulletin'' to include a profile page for Karen Page. After revealing her login credentials in a post on ''Daredevil''s Facebook page, readers who visited Page's profile found images referencing Page's research into Castle from the second season of ''Daredevil''. Bernthal and other members of the cast were scheduled to appear at New York Comic Con 2017 to promote the season, but the panel was cancelled after the 2017 Las Vegas Strip shooting. Two weeks later, a second trailer was released revealing the season's release date of November 17, 2017. Tom Philip at '' GQ'' was not very enthused with the trailer, saying it was "hard to get super jazzed about another gritty, ultra-violent, gun-loving, non-superhero show right now." He was critical of the "utilitarian-sounding writing" in the trailer, but felt the chemistry between Bernthal and Woll would be a reason to watch the series. Philip also felt the addition of Moss-Bachrach was "curious", and said "at least
he series is He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
a swing for the fences from a TV studio that tends to play it astoundingly safe." Scott Mendelson of '' Forbes'' noted that the gun violence sequences featured were mainly "flashbacks with military men doing military things in full fatigues or scenes of bad guys shooting at not-so-bad guys with heavy gunfire", which was a strong contrast to the first trailer. Mendelson felt this shift in the marketing strategy could have been in response to the Las Vegas shooting. TechCrunch's Darrell Etherington agreed with Mendelson, noting how the trailer "plays up Castle's motivations and the more human side of the story", while still looking "gritty and dark, ndBernthal's portrayal looking as strong as ever." Etherington also criticized the soundtrack of the trailer. ''The Punisher'' had its red carpet premiere on November 6, 2017, in New York City at the 34th Street
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theatre.


Release

The first season of ''The Punisher'' was released on November 17, 2017, on the
streaming service Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
Netflix, worldwide. In July 2016, Netflix COO
Ted Sarandos Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr. is an American businessman who serves as the co-chief executive officer and chief content officer for Netflix. Early life Sarandos was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father was Ted Sarandos Sr, an electrician, and ...
had stated that ''The Punisher'' would not debut until 2018 at the earliest, following ''The Defenders'' August 18, 2017 release, but in October 2016 Marvel confirmed the 2017 release instead. In early September 2017, Dominic Patten and Denise Petski of '' Deadline Hollywood'' commented on the lack of specific release date for the season at the time, calling it "an unusual" and "rare move for Marvel and Netflix, who usually give a lot of lead-up to the launch" of their high-profile series. The pair felt with the increased marketing of the season, it would release "sooner rather than later". Allison Keene of Collider expressed irritation at this because she and other television journalists were unable to plan content without knowing the release date, while fans anticipating the series would watch it "whenever it appears" regardless of when the date is announced. '' Polygon''s Susana Polo felt Marvel and Netflix would announce the date at their scheduled New York Comic Con 2017 panel in October, as the convention had been used in previous years to reveal "breaking fall Marvel/Netflix news". It was soon reported that this was indeed the case, with Netflix planning a surprise "drop" release of the season after the New York Comic Con panel, mimicking a strategy from the music industry where an artist's album is released "with little or no fanfare". However, Marvel and Netflix decided to delay the release of the season to later in 2017 following the Las Vegas shooting and subsequent cancelling of the panel. Two weeks later, the November 17 release was announced. Regarding the decisions made concerning the New York Comic Con panel and the season's release, Loeb said that they were made "specifically because it was a week after a horrible, horrible incident. It hasn't changed the television series, the show is not predominantly about gun violence, and in fact it shows you the problems that occur in that world." Bernthal and Lightfoot felt delaying the release of the season "was the right decision" out of respect for the victims, with Lightfoot saying there was no reason to go ahead with the panel if it was going to upset "even one person involved" with the shooting. Moore had initially felt the season would not be released at all once the panel was cancelled. Between the Las Vegas shooting and subsequent delaying of the season, and the eventual November 17 release, the United States experienced another mass shooting with the Sutherland Springs church shooting. Bernthal hoped that these two shootings and the release of the season would together help further the discussion on gun violence, with "all sides of this debate" represented in ''The Punisher''. The season, along with the additional ''Punisher'' seasons and the other Marvel Netflix series, was removed from Netflix on March 1, 2022, due to Netflix's license for the series ending and Disney regaining the rights. The season became available on Disney+ in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on March 16, ahead of its debut in Disney+'s other markets by the end of 2022.


Reception


Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating with an average rating of 6.70/10 based on 79 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "A rocky start can't keep ''The Punisher'' from pushing the boundaries of Marvel's TV universe with a fresh take on the comics-derived action thriller." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 55 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Summarizing the critical response to the entirety of the first season, '' GameSpot'' said reviews were "mixed." It received mixed to negative reviews from the ''
LA Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' and ''
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.'' '' The Washington Post'' said that Netflix had finally gotten the franchise "right" in a live-action in a way the prior three movies had failed to please fans. It gave the credit to the "soul" of the show and Bernthal as "one of Marvel's great casting gets" and made the show "a definitive adaptation that doubles as Netflix's best Marvel show to date." '' The Hollywood Reporter'' thought the first 13-episode season felt "at least twice the length it should be." '' The New York Times'' said "the action picks up as the season progresses, but ''The Punisher'' never quite gets in touch with the visceral roots of its material." ''
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'' called the first season "a compelling and complex horror story about the military." ''The New York Times'' said that although the action picks up later in the first season, the slow pace made it less pulpy and more of a procedural thriller with a moody and psychological approach, particularly for its focus on PTSD. ''Variety'' also wrote positively of both the show and Bernthal's "seamless" performance, saying that "It's difficult to imagine better casting than Bernthal, who communicates so fluently with impassive silences, and is convincing both when he is being terribly violent and especially gentle." However, the review said the show took some time to show that it "transcends what it appears to be" at first, through
Steve Lightfoot Steve Lightfoot (sometimes credited as Steven Lightfoot or Robert Scott Fraser) is a British television writer and producer who worked as an executive producer and writer on the NBC thriller television series ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'', ...
's "sharp, conscious storytelling." It also praised what it called anti-violence themes throughout the series. '' Vanity Fair'' wrote a less positive review, saying the show was as "psychologically confused as its antihero," as the writers had Castle target people for questionable reasons but portrayed him as justified. ''Vanity Fair'' wrote that "What the series neglects to examine, of course, is the fact that the Punisher is just as wicked as the villains he targets." '' Vulture'' described the show's attempts to "humanize and deepen" Castle beyond the violent "monster" he was in the original comics as "unpersuasive," and described a conflict between the showing wanting to be both '' The Best Years of Our Lives'' and ''
Death Wish IV ''Death Wish 4: The Crackdown'' is a 1987 American action thriller film, and the fourth installment in the ''Death Wish'' film series. The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson, and features Charles Bronson, who reprises his leading role as Paul ...
: The Crackdown'' at the same time. Lightfoot defended the amount of violence in the series, reiterating that he did not feel that it was any more violent than ''Daredevil'', that he believed it would be worse to not show the violent repercussions of Castle's actions because that would be "flippant" and not convey the real-life cost of the violence, and that Castle never "just blithely walk away" from the violence as it always takes a physical or emotional toll on him. This extended to the repeated depictions of the death of Castle's wife, which Lightfoot did not think was in bad taste because it was about visualizing Castle's feelings, something he would not talk about; the deaths evolve through the season until they show Castle as the one killing her to signify that he blames himself for her death, which Lightfoot felt was important relationship building between Castle and the audience rather than just gratuitous violence.


Accolades

Collider ranked the season as the fourth best among superhero series of 2017.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Punisher season 1, The 2017 American television seasons 01