First they say, “He will be a part of The Defenders.” Now they say, “He won’t.” What’s going on with Jeb Loeb and the crew? Yesterday a statement was released telling everyone that Jon Bernthal (as The Punisher) will not join The Defenders. Which means that the last image that appeared in the Stan Lee video could be the teaser for the solo Punisher series that has nothing to do with The Defenders show.

“We haven’t gotten to that place, I don’t know if there will be a Defenders [season] 2,” Loeb said while speaking with Collider. “I think one of the things that is unique to The Punisher, and particularly to Jon Bernthal’s performance, is that the character can stand alone. Even in the comic books, Frank Castle’s Punisher is a character that sort of does well by himself. I think that when you start mixing [his character with others], it feels a little off. I’m not saying that it couldn’t happen and I’m not saying that it wouldn’t happen, I’m just saying [The Punisher] doesn’t immediately lend itself toward, ‘yea, I can see The Punisher and Luke Cage hanging out!’”

It’s understandable to why The Punisher would never be able to do any team-ups. Frank works best when he is alone. He’s a lone wolf who relies on nobody’s help to get the job done. So what about the scene in The Defenders trailer where Danny and Jessie tries to rescue an injured Punisher from The Hand? It looks like he will appear in The Defenders. But only as a very small cameo at the climax of Season 1 of The Defenders where Frank appears at the last minute to help The Defenders defeat The Hand.
I gotta confession to make. Even when I was able to afford purchasing a month’s subscription to Netflix to watch Voltron: Legendary Defender, I didn’t want to watch Daredevil Season 2 because I didn’t like the way the season was woven into a patchwork of a few different shows that are entirely irrelevant to each of the main story lines.
I don’t like how the scenes of Daredevil discovering a big huge hole located in the Central areas of Hell’s Kitchen, his love affair with Elektra, the unveiling of The Hand, his breakup of his team of attorneys, and Elektra’s involvement with the ninja group and other solo Daredevil scenes were interfering with The Punisher’s main story line. Where Frank traded blows and barbs with Matt over how crime should be fought while focusing on the mission to find the one responsible for ordering his family to be killed and destroy him along with the 3 gangs who murdered his family at the carousel area in Central Park. To do that he has to get kidnapped, tortured, interrogated, and eventually get arrested, stand trial, put into prison, strike a deal with The Kingpin, kill several inmates, escape prison, and other events that was way out of place in the Season 2 series.
This is why I’m requesting a special Punisher Cut version of Daredevil Season 2 where everything entirely Daredevil related gets omitted from The Punisher related scenes and dubbed to become a much separate show apart from Daredevil. Keeping both Punisher and Daredevil shows and story lines separate is the best way for me and everybody else to avoid any confusion about what show is being streamed on Netflix at this time.
This is also why it thrills me to look forward to the solo Punisher series. I’m the type of Punisher fan who only cares about The Punisher alone. No other Marvel character will do. I’d prefer to see Punisher in realistic stories (a la Garth Ennis’ Punisher Max) with no monsters or fantasies or super powered creatures to bother him.
And guess what? The Punisher show fits the bill perfectly. No monsters, no fantasy worlds, no super powered beings, no patchwork irrelevant scenes coming from some separate TV show. Just a lone wolf with a skull, guns, a guitar, and a harp who is out to avenge his family in every way by seeking out hardened criminals and destroy them all.