Punisher Spinoff in Development at Netflix

With Netflix presenting at the Television Critics Association winter tour on Sunday, this may be confirmed sooner than later, but TVLine is reporting that the streaming service is very close the giving the green light to a Punisher spinoff. Jon Bernthal (“The Walking Dead”) will play the comic book character in the second season of Daredevil on Netflix, premiering on Friday, March 18, 2016.

If the series gets the green light, it would join Marvel’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, the upcoming Luke Cage, and the in-development Iron Fist and The Defenders series at Netflix.

In related news, Bernthal talked to EW about playing the character and the dark place he had to go to as an actor. He said he sees Frank Castle/The Punisher “as a man who put his on the line and really went through the ultimate sacrifice for this country in his involvement in the military. He’s a guy who brought the war home with him [in] the worst possible way. There are a lot of iterations of this character and in all of them it’s a man who’s gone through this unbelievable trauma and what’s interesting about our take on him is how this trauma reshapes his own philosophy.”

He added that “with Frank, what was important was the emptiness inside him. He’s dealing with this unbelievable loss. There’s unbelievable anger and hatred and shame. There’s a sense of responsibility and as a father and husband, if I were to lose my family on my watch … I had to put myself in as dark of place as possible the last six months.”

Bernthal explained that his character evolves over the season. “I can tell you that this guy, horrible tragic things happen, and we will see how he goes through that. The effect the other characters have on him will push him certain directions. I think once you see these characters collide, it’s tremendously interesting and emotionally gripping as well. It’s going to be a special season. If you thought last season of Daredevil was dark, we’re going to a whole new place.”

Marvel’s Daredevil season two will feature the return of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock (who moonlights as The Man Without Fear), Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Scott Glenn as Stick and Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple. Elodie Yung is also set to appear, playing the deadly assassin Elektra Natchios.

Marvel’s Daredevil is Executive Produced by Doug Petrie (American Horror Story, Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Marco Ramirez (DaVinci’s Demons) and Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods, Lost), along with Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel’s Jessica Jones.) It is is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios.

If you want to know more about Punisher’s backstory, don’t miss The Punisher: Origins and Evolutions.