Earlier this month, we got word that The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal would play The Punisher in season two of Marvel’s Daredevil. With the Marvel Universe’s deadliest “hero” coming to Hell’s Kitchen, it was only a matter of time until he wound up butting heads with Ol’ Hornhead. But how big a role will Frank Castle play? Jessica Chobot has the exclusive on today’s Nerdist News!
According to our source, newly appointed co-showrunner Marco Ramirez is referring to season two as “Daredevil vs. the Punisher.” We’ll now take a brief hiatus while you high five everyone in the room. All done? Good! Now obviously we knew that Daredevil and the Punisher would wind up at each other’s throats, but this news makes it seem like the Punisher could be the big bad for the entire second season. Or will he?
Given that the first season ends with — spoiler alert — Matt Murdock turning Kingpin into the police and pledging not to kill in the name of justice, it’s natural that he would be at odds with the Punisher’s take-no-prisoners style of vigilante justice. However, the title of “Daredevil vs. the Punisher” is more of a philosophical battle that’ll take place over the season. With Kingpin out of the picture, a power vacuum will be created that the city’s villainous vermin will try and fill. With all these termites crawling out of the woodwork, the Punisher will likely emerge and try to exterminate them. However, as the self-appointed protector of Hell’s Kitchen, Daredevil is going to have to put a stop to that.
So if the Punisher isn’t the big bad, then who is? With it all but confirmed that Bullseye and Elektra will be appearing in the show’s second season, one can easily envision a scenario in which Matt Murdock falls for Elektra only to see her murdered by Bullseye (as per usual). This could prompt Daredevil and the Punisher to team up to take down the assassin-for-hire and create a source of friction between the two heroes in the process. And who hired Bullseye to do the dirty deed? Kingpin, probably. Hell, he’s done a lot worse from behind bars. Granted, this part is speculation, but after hearing Ramirez’s remarks, it’s hard not to let the brain run wild. In the meantime, I would suggest re-reading Daredevil vs. Punisher: Means & Ends.
Thanks for watching today’s show! Don’t miss the latest episode of Because Science, and let us know in the comments below who else you’d like to see in season two of Daredevil.