The Punisher: 10 Ways It Saves Netflix's Marvel Universe
5. It Isn't Clichéd
While Marvel's Netflix properties have largely managed to evade Game of Thrones syndrome since 2015, it's equally true that the Defenders wasn't so lucky. Included in that series were two deaths that, for the most part, were only added for the sake of shock value. Things had seemingly gotten too safe.
And yet the Punisher, for all its guts, gore and violence, doesn't make the same mistake. There are deaths aplenty (a given, considering the subject matter), but when someone did depart, it wasn't orchestrated as a means of simply keeping the audience on their toes - it fit a purpose.
It's not as though the show was short on targets either - anyone of Micro, Madani or Curt could've been killed at some point - it's just that it understood that their deaths would do little other than shock the viewer into submission. Also true is the fact that the series devised a whole bunch of means of provoking viewers when needed (living up to Marvel's Netflix reputation), particularly in its handling of the conspiracy storyline and those other moments of carnage.
It's just nice to see the show get past the chlichés of the medium and do its own thing, Thrones be damned.