Frank Castle kicked off his MCU tenure earlier this year in Daredevil Season 2, but after decades of popularity in the comics and three movies, many fans assumed that he would get a spinoff series on Netflix, and they were right. Aside from Jon Bernthal reprising the gun-toting Frank, few details have come out about what to expect from The Punisher. Fortunately, the upcoming show took a major step forward today, casting two key characters.
Marvel confirmed today that Girls star Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Son of God star Amber Rose Revah have been added to The Punisher's main cast. Moss-Bachrach will play Micro, a former NSA analyst who has secrets that could be valuable to not just Frank Castle, but others around them, good or bad. Revah will play Dinah Madani, a "highly trained sophisticated" Homeland Security agent who is "vexed" by The Punisher.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach is best known for playing Desi Harperin in the HBO series Girls since Season 3. His other credits include The Lake House, Damages, The Last Ship and Person of Interest. Daredevil Season 2 viewers will also remember that in the finale, Frank Castle retrieved a CD labeled "Micro" from his house before setting the place on fire, so he's already familiar with the man, or at the very least, some of his valuable information. In the comics, Microchip, a.k.a. David Lieberman, served as Punisher's ally by supplying him with technology and weaponry, although he later morphed into one of the vigilante's adversaries.
Amber Rose Revah rose to prominence in the U.S. playing Mary Magdalene in Son of God, an adaptation of The Bible miniseries. Her other credits include Silent Witness, Indian Summers and the upcoming Emerald City. Unlike Micro, Dinah Madani is not a character from the Marvel universe, so you won't have any luck looking to the comics for hints about what might happen with her.
Along with these two castings came confirmation that Westworld's Ben Barnes has joined The Punisher, though not as the character we thought he might play. It was originally rumored that he had been added as villain Bobby Saint, but now he's been officially revealed as Billy Russo, Frank Castle's best friends from the Special Forces days who now runs a private military corporation called Anvil. However, Barnes still isn't far at all from villain territory, because in the comics, Billy Russo is also known as Jigsaw, one of The Punisher's most notable enemies. I suppose that means we can expect Mr. Russo's face to be roughed up by the end of The Punisher Season 1, right?
With production having already begun, fans can expect to see The Punisher on Netflix sometime in 2017. Stay tuned to Cinema Blend for more crucial details.
