Marvel's The Punisher: 10 Perfect Stories Netflix Could Adapt
What comic-book story arc will Marvel draw from for The Punisher's debut Netflix season?
The Marvel Netflix Universe has been taking the world by storm since 2015's Daredevil, and is still going strong today. We're only a month or so away from Iron Fist, but fans are already looking forward to this year's Defenders team-up and beyond.
Marvel and Netflix have confirmed that they would be bringing Jon Bernthal's incredible Punisher to his own series at some point in the not too distant future (expected late-2017, with filming already underway), and now the question becomes how will Frank Castle's story continue?
After a frankly phenomenal guest spot in Daredevil Season 2, Frank will be stepping out on his own for the first time on TV, but there are so many other aspects to this aside from simply Punisher - what supporting characters will we meet? Who will be the villain of the piece? Perhaps most importantly, what story will we see unfold on Netflix?
There are literally decades of stories Marvel can pull from, but what are the most likely candidates? Let's take a look.
10. Up Is Down, Black Is White
Up Is Down, Black Is White is a beautifully dark story written by Garth Ennis (of Preacher fame). It's possibly one of the most violent Punisher tales ever, and its mob-villain antagonist would fit perfectly in the grounded Marvel Netflix universe.
The story kicks off with insane mobster Nicky Cavella digging up the bodies of Frank Castle's family, setting up a camera and urinating on them. He then proceeds to send the footage to the news so the whole world can watch.
For those of you who have read (or watched) Ennis' Preacher, you know all about his total lack of subtlety - he demonstrated this perfectly in Up Is Down, Black Is White by simply shocking audiences to their core with the first issue, and then leaving people begging to see Punisher's reaction unfold.
From there on out, the bulk of the story is pretty much Frank Castle taking out mobster after mobster until he can get close enough to Cavella to exact his bloody revenge. It's a simple, yet effective story which is what all great Punisher stories are. The Marvel TV creative team will obviously have the freedom to add their own spin to the show, but Up Is Down, Black Is White would be an amazing starting point for the first season of The Punisher.