The Punisher TV Series: Ben Barnes Joins the Cast
It looks like events are starting to move on Marvel’s next planned Netflix series, The Punisher. Jon Bernthal made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the second season of Daredevil. Marvel and Netflix then later announced that the character would be getting his own show, with Jon Bernthal once again taking the role of the former soldier-turned-vigilante, Frank Castle aka The Punisher. TV Line reports that Ben Barnes has been cast in the show opposite Jon Bernthal.
Character and plot details are still unknown. However, the report notes that rumors indicate that Barnes could be playing antagonist Bobby Saint. In the 2004 movie, Bobby Saint was the son of the film’s main villain, Howard Saint, played by John Travolta. Barnes’ credits include The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Seventh Son, Sons of Liberty and the upcoming HBO Westworld TV series.
The Punisher does not yet have a launch date in sight, but if casting is moving forward, hopefully that means that production on the series might begin soon. Netflix is currently working on the new Iron Fist TV series. After that, the heroes of the previous Netflix shows will come together for The Defenders miniseries.
The issue here is that Netflix has been keeping its Marvel shows at two series a year. In 2015 it was Daredevil and Jessica Jones. This year, it’s Daredevil Season 2 and Luke Cage. Next year, it would conceivably be Iron Fist and The Defenders. A third season of Daredevil was already announced, along with a second season of Jessica Jones. So with The Punisher in the works, that means Netflix will have to increase the rate of Marvel shows that debut in a year, otherwise, fans will be left waiting a very long time in-between seasons.
The next Marvel Netflix series, Luke Cage, premieres on the streaming service on September 30.