The Punisher: 10 Ways It Saves Netflix's Marvel Universe

2. A Distinct Lack Of Ninjas

The Punisher Frank Body Armour
Netflix

Say what you will about Daredevil, Iron Fist or The Defenders, but there's no denying that The Hand - everyone's favourite evil ninja cult - were beginning to grate.

They're fine in Daredevil's world, certainly so, considering their significance in the character's lore, but by the time Netflix's Avengers equivalent rolled around, people were fairly fed up. Fortunately for us, the Punisher has no business fighting ninjas, so it was back to basics for Frank's return to the small screen (which is a welcome relief, it must be said).

It would be remarkably puerile to argue that literally all of Netflix's problems these last few years have been Hand-related (Iron Fist would've undoubtedly blown irrespective of any ninja influence), but they were over-saturating the Marvel landscape by the time The Defenders dropped in August. The fact that they're not here now, then, adds another neat bonus to The Punisher's ever-expanding list of wins.

Things are in the Ennis mould this time around; villains are real world operatives, crawling out of real world institutions and concocting plots that, for the most part, are grounded in historical precedent. It might be a superhero show in a basic sense, but it's clever for playing to the strengths of Castle's bibliography and not - as some had feared - following in the footsteps of Marvel's most recent productions.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.