The Punisher

In the craziness that has been the last few days, I have been unable to get to some reading that I want to do. I have a large stack of books ready to go, but I am getting ready to move this weekend so they have been put on hold for now. I will have a week off during my move and staycation, so there will be plenty to talk about next week, hopefully. I did get a chance to read one book this week though, and that was Hawkeye vs. Deadpool. Since the Original Sin event in the Marvel NOW! universe, we’ve seen several of these versus isssues between Marvel characters. I’ve only read a few, the only one I can remember was Hulk vs. Iron Man and it was just okay. I didn’t expect much from this book, but someone at work gave me their copy to read since they enjoyed it. To my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well. For one, the fun level was off the charts. Who knew that the biting sarcasm of Deadpool would match so well with modern-hipster Hawkeye. Most of you probably know by now, I hate this modern trend in comic books where all of the heroes are teen hipsters. The new Hawkeye book from Marvel NOW! is one of the most overrated titles I’ve read in the past few years, so I really expected to hate this one. It was fun, from page one and on down to the end. Deadpool isn’t the only supply of laughs here, and the two characters play really well off of each other. With Posehn and Duggan’s Deadpool ending, this was yet another chance to catch a glimpse of the greatness before it’s gone. I really appreciate what they’ve done with Deadpool recently, and he was really given a great mashup here with Hawkeye as a lead. I would recommend picking this one up to read, and don’t let it get too fun. No, it’s not a quality story per se, but the entertainment value in this book is certainly worth the possible money spent.

RATED : ( PG-13 )
STORY : ( 6 / 10 )
ARTWORK : ( 7 / 10 )
COVERS : ( 8 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 9 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 8 / 10 )

In other news, it has come to light today that Jon Bernthal has been casted for the second season of Netflix’s Daredevil. Not only is he going to be in the show, but he has been cast to play The Punisher a.k.a. Frank Castle. When watching Daredevil on Netflix last month, I found myself wondering why a character like The Punisher didn’t deserve a remake treatment like Daredevil did. Honestly, both Affleck’s Daredevil and Jane’s The Punisher are really greatly underrated comic book films. Sure, they were both action blockbusters starring the high caliber actors, but they were still stuck in the cheesy tone of Marvel’s yesterdays. However, now that Marvel has taken a turn for the serious, and decided that they can continue to make both Agents of SHIELD and adult-oriented entertainment, they are finding new chances for old dogs. Frank Castle is now the latest character to get the redo he deserves, and I’m really excited for him to be put into this Daredevil universe that Marvel has created with Netflix. It’s dark and gritty, and takes place in a pretty damn realistic world that so far doesn’t seem to be merging with the lightness of the film franchises. This could be a self-contained “Dark Avengers” project here at Netflix, with the lineup of shows coming up leading into The Defenders, who knows what we could get then too. Bernthal was not an actor I even had in mind for a possible Punisher revival, as he has to automatically be seen as an action hero, or a tough as nails vigilante who will do anything to fix the world. Taking the little time I have had this morning to think about this casting, I’m really excited that it’s Jon Bernthal. He showed us in The Walking Dead that he can play the bad guy, and even though The Punisher isn’t a bad guy for us fans, he sort of is in the Marvel universe. Heroes want to hate him because of his methods, but when it comes down to it he does want good just like the rest. I think Bernthal is the right actor for this, especially a TV version of The Punisher, though Netflix seems to have given Daredevil creators some serious room with violence. Knowing what the first season of Daredevil was like, and knowing that Bernthal can be play a likable bad guy, I’d say we’re in store for another amazing season of the show. I’ve been dying for more Punisher since Punisher: War Zone, so I’m so glad to finally see one of my favorite characters ever is getting another chance to prove that he’s awesome.