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

8. The (Eventual) Villain Is Brilliant

Netflix

Although Paul Schulze's William Rawlins never really reached top gear by the time The Punisher reached its finale, its other villain, Billy Russo, most certainly did.

Played with appropriate nastiness by the infallible Ben Barnes, the decision to make Russo a former comrade of Castle's and not, as it was in the comics, the son of a mob boss, was a smart move on the showrunners' behalf. It adds a whole other edge to their relationship, and by the time Russo's deception is revealed, you feel just as let down as Frank does.

Barnes totally nails the part as the handsome yet totally despicable villain, and with the character having evolved into Jigsaw in the finale, thanks to Frank's handy fairground facial reconstruction, it's clear that he's destined for bigger things.

Jigsaw is commonly seen as Frank's big bad - the Kingpin to his Daredevil, if you will. It's an aspect of the character's history that Barnes will be all too aware of, and with the chance to take things even further next time around, it's an opportunity he's bound to relish. Roll on season 2.

Advertisement
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.