As the MCU continues its inexorable march forward, more and more Marvel content will be incorporated into the film empire. Perhaps the most heavily requested addition to the franchise is the bevy of beloved characters introduced in the various Marvel Netflix series, but one standout example demonstrates the difficulty of that transition.
Netflix hosted six Marvel series between 2015 and 2019, forming an interconnected universe of their own that rarely crossed over with the larger MCU events. This world of "street-level" heroes holds some of the most well-received Marvel characters but went about their adaptation to screen in a slightly different way than the typical MCU movie.
Jon Bernthal's take on Frank Castle, AKA The Punisher, first appeared as a complicated anti-hero in season 2 of Daredevil. Castle and the eponymous Matt Murdock engaged in a thrilling battle, both of skill and of ideals, before teaming up to fight crime. Castle spun off into his own series, an intricate thriller with a haunting message behind it. The MCU's Punisher is a powerful statement about the effects of war and loss, given real pathos through Bernthal's performance.
The character was a dynamic figure in action scenes, but his trauma and growth throughout the series were what made him something truly special. Both seasons of The Punisher dealt with very serious political, psychological and personal issues that lent a sense of grounded immediacy to the narrative. All of the Marvel Netflix shows dealt with real-world concepts in starkly mature ways. This is not the standard operating procedure of the MCU, and the change would be noticeable.
Tone is the magic word here. The average episode of a Marvel Netflix show feels dramatically different from the average MCU film or show. Darker, grittier, more grounded, willing to embrace some truly challenging subject manor, the Netflix series were aiming for a very different target. From Luke Cage's dissection of race to Jessica Jones' harrowing look into sexual assault, the Marvel Netflix series went places that the MCU simply will not.
The Punisher is about PTSD, grief, terrorism, and the experience of veterans, all subjects with extreme implications. The big MCU movies have been reticent to explore themes of this level, focusing mostly on fantastical elements with lighter lessons about friendship and responsibility. This leaves the MCU with a couple of big ways to ruin Frank Castle, but far from certain doom in the effort.
The worst possible scenario for Frank Castle would be a dumbed-down, insulting, kid-friendly version of the character. Bernthal has spoken out on the subject, making it clear he wouldn't return to a version of the character that had lost what made it great. This means, in a very direct way, fans will be spared a ruined version of Bernthal's performance. Disney would have to recast the role if they wanted to dilute the character.
The MCU has addressed the issue of heroes who do and don't kill a couple of times, so that particular issue, already well-tread ground for Castle, would be repeating itself. The MCU would have to drastically reduce the violence endemic to Frank Castle, and since they also wouldn't dare touch the more frayed social issues he represents, it seems impossible to adapt him at all. So hacking Castle to death to fit into the MCU is obviously out, but shoving him as-is into a world he doesn't belong in can't work either.
The MCU films and shows do vary in tone somewhat, consider something like Black Widow against Ant-Man. Each character-specific series in the franchise has its own general vibe, from Spider-Man's John Hughes-inspired high-school comedy to Thor's mythological epic. Frank Castle could make his way into only a couple of those film series. The most grounded on offer would probably be the Captain America series. In its evolution to Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the series began to tackle the more unsavory elements of America's history. Whichever film series would accept the Punisher, it would need to be accommodating to the character and not make Frank a fish out of water.
Make no mistake, the Marvel Netflix series' tone and subject matter do not inherently make them better than the MCU's light fun. There's a place for both, but ruining one to fit the other, or just cramming the two together haphazardly will hurt the project. Frank has been a regular feature of an enormous variety of team-up projects throughout Marvel Comics' history, working with heroes like Daredevil, Moon Knight and even Captain America. Even in his grim form, the character could make an appearance alongside some of the other heroes in the current MCU.
One excellent use of the character could be partnering him up with a hero like Moon Knight or Hawkeye to make the most of his interplay with another hero. This worked very well with Daredevil, and sacrificed none of Castle's key elements. Adapting Bernthal's Castle to the MCU would be tough, but its worth it. Fans will have to wait to see what Disney does with the once-great adaptation of the Punisher.