THE FANDOM ZONE 122: "3 AM" is Up!

"Welcome back, Frank."

– David "Micro" Lieberman,The Punisher: "3 AM"

That's right, we're back with another HUGE new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  So huge, in fact, we're splitting it up into two parts!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 8x04: "Some Guy"

Lucifer 3x07: "Off the Record"

The Gifted 1x07: "eXtreme measures"

Supergirl 3x06: "Midvale"

The Flash 4x06: "When Harry Met Harry..."

Legends of Tomorrow 3x06: "Helen Hunt"

Arrow 6x06: "Promises Kept"

Gotham 4x09: "Let Them Eat Pie"

The Punisher 1x01: "3 AM"  (SERIES PREMIERE)

In this episode, Karen and I talk about things like getting your money's worth with The Fandom Zone, the tasteful death of Shiva, Karen's World of Warcraft inventory, King Ezekiel's epic fail, Kip from Napoleon Dynamite, Jerry bisecting Gunther with his battleaxe, Jerry as the new Shiva, why Carol would've been perforated hiding behind a car, Rick and Daryl as The Dukes of Hazzard, not caring about Eclipse working for his ex-girlfriend's cartel, Blink feeling violated by Dreamer, revising my Strucker family tree theory, Amy Acker being totally wasted as Schoolteacher Caitlin, interacting with Dr. Linda and Ella from Lucifer on Twitter, Dr. Linda's ex-husband's obsession with Lucifer, Dan's obsession with Lucifer eating his pudding, Lucifer not being responsible for sending people to Hell, Supergirl's big Smallville tribute, the potential spinoff featuring Young Kara and Alex, Karen's Native American heritage, Elongated Man's creepy hand balloon animals, the Council of Wells, Helen of Troy constantly having dudes fighting over her, Professor Stein's crush on Hedy Lamarr, the island of paradise known as Theymscira, the TV debut of Richard Dragon, Deathstroke having hallucinations of Shado, my grudge against Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Wild Dog's costume upgrade, Professor Pyg as Sweeney Todd, Bruce being a teenaged douche to Alfred, Professor Pyg's big Hannibal meat pie scene, Frank trying to call it quits as The Punisher, the Punisher 12-issue maxiseries by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, the introduction of Micro, why stepping on the Punisher's sandwich is a really bad idea, and more!

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Be sure to come back next week as Karen and I review Episode 2 of Netflix's The Punisher, along with new episodes of AMC's The Walking Dead, The CW's The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow, and Fox's The Gifted and Lucifer, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

Netflix Debuts First Teaser Trailer for THE PUNISHER

Frank Castle is back to dish out some punishment.

Netflix has debuted the first teaser trailer for The Punisher, based on the Marvel Comics character and spinning off from the events of Daredevil Season 2.  The series stars Jon Bernthal as The Punisher/Frank Castle, Ben Barnes as Jigsaw/Billy Russo, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Micro, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page.

Debuting at the end of The Defenders Episode 8, the one-minute teaser trailer shows Frank Castle using a sledgehammer on a city street as he delivers a voiceover.

"All the things that I've done..." begins Frank as he starts pounding away at the pavement, while we see fleeting images of him shooting bad guys and looking at a photo of his murdered family.  "Memories...They never hurt me."

We see fleeting images of Frank's time as a soldier in the Middle East as he continues pounding away at the pavement.  "The past...it's more than memories.  It's the devil you sold your soul to...He's coming.  He's coming to collect."

Frank drops the sledge and walks off into the night.  The camera looks down at the pavement, revealing that Frank rather artistically carved his Punisher skull logo into the pavement.

If you'd like to check out the teaser, you can view it below thanks to YouTube user iVideos...




The Punisher is expected to debut on Netflix sometime in November 2017.

Your 2017 Geek Movie and TV Calendar

Once again, the new year brings us closer to The Films and TV Shows You've Been Dying to See for Like Forever.  If you enjoy sci-fi, fantasy and comic book based entertainment as I do, you already have several must-see flicks and television programs in the pipeline for 2017.  With that in mind, I thought I'd go ahead and give a helpful chronological rundown of which geek movie and TV goodness arrives when.  Some of these films will be worth the long wait, others you wouldn't watch even if they were on Netflix, but each have their audiences and key target demographics.  Start planning your work vacation/sick/personal days accordingly.

JANUARY

6 - Underworld: Blood Wars (Movie)
8 - Elementary, Sherlock: The Lying Detective, The Simpsons (TV)
10 - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
15 - Sherlock: The Final Problem (TV)
16 - Gotham, Lucifer, Supergirl (TV)
24 - The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
25 - Arrow (TV)
26 - Riverdale (TV)

FEBRUARY

2 - Powerless (TV)
8 - Legion (TV)
10 - John Wick: Chapter 2, The LEGO Batman Movie (Movie)
12 - Last Week Tonight, The Walking Dead (TV)

MARCH

March 2017? -- Better Call Saul, The Americans (TV)
3 - Logan (Movie)
10 - Kong: Skull Island (Movie)
17 - Iron Fist (TV)
24 - Power Rangers (Movie)
31 - Ghost in the Shell (Movie)

APRIL

April 2017? - American Gods, Class, Doctor Who, Fear the Walking Dead, Into the Badlands, Orphan Black, Twin Peaks (TV)
4 - iZombie (TV)

MAY

May 2017? - Preacher, Star Trek: Discovery (TV)
5 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Movie)
19 - Alien: Covenant (Movie)
26 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Movie)

JUNE

June 2017? - The Defenders, Game of Thrones, Outcast (TV)
2 - Wonder Woman (Movie)
9 - The Mummy (Movie)
23 - Transformers: The Last Knight (Movie)
30 - Despicable Me 3 (Movie)

JULY

July 2017? - Stranger Things (TV)
7 - Spider-Man: Homecoming (Movie)
14 - War for the Planet of the Apes (Movie)
28 - The Dark Tower (Movie)

AUGUST

August 2017? -- Halt and Catch Fire, The Strain (TV)

SEPTEMBER

September 2017? - Gotham, The Inhumans, Lucifer, The Punisher, The Simpsons (TV)
4 - The Inhumans (Movie)
8 - Stephen King's IT Part One (Movie)

OCTOBER

October 2017? - American Horror Story, Arrow, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Elementary, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, The Walking Dead (TV)
6 - Blade Runner 2049, Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Movie)

NOVEMBER

3 - Thor: Ragnarok (Movie)
17 - Justice League (Movie)

DECEMBER

15 - Star Wars Episode VIII (Movie)
25 - Doctor Who 2017 Christmas Special

THE PUNISHER Casts Ben Barnes as Jigsaw

Looks like The Punisher is putting the pieces together.

Marvel has confirmed that Netflix's upcoming Daredevil spinoff series The Punisher has cast Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, better known to Marvel Comics fans as the villainous Jigsaw. Barnes will join Jon Bernthal as The Punisher/Frank Castle, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Micro, and Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, a Homeland Security agent vexed by Castle.

According to the press release, Billy Russo is described as "Frank’s Castle’s best friend from his days in the Special Forces.  He runs a successful private military corporation called 'Anvil.'"

Barnes, 35, is best known as Prince Caspian X in The Chronicles of Narnia films Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  His film appearances include Seventh Son, Dorian Gray, and Stardust, while his television appearances include Westworld, Sons of Liberty, and Doctors.

"I’m really excited about the cast we're assembling alongside Bernthal as Frank Castle," said showrunner and executive producer Steve Lightfoot.  "I look forward to watching Ben, Ebon and Amber embody these characters and breathe vivid life into the story we are crafting for this season of Marvel's The Punisher."

"We couldn’t be more thrilled about the remarkable talent joining Jon Bernthal in Marvel’s The Punisher," said Jeph Loeb, executive producer and Marvel’s Head of Television.  "Ebon, Ben and Amber are incredibly talented actors and we can’t wait to see them bring these characters to life."

Created in 1976 by Len Wein and Ross Andru, Jigsaw first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) #162. Kicked out by his abusive father at the age of ten, Billy Russo became a hitman for New York's criminal underworld, where his good looks garnered him the nickname "The Beaut."  After the botched gangland execution that inadvertently led to the Castle family being massacred, Russo was hired by Frank Costa to assassinate all those connected to the Castles.

Russo killed all of his targets but Frank Castle, who survived the bomb that Russo had planted in Castle's home.  Hours later, Castle (now the Punisher) tracked Russo down to a Maggia nightclub.  The Punisher gunned down all of Russo's associates, but left him alive to send a message to organized crime after knocking him through a glass pane, an act that reduced Russo's face to a jigsaw puzzle-like mess of scars.

Taking advantage of his now hideous visage, the formerly handsome gangster adopted the identity of Jigsaw, and attempted to frame the Punisher for murder.  However, the plan failed due to the intervention of Spider-Man and Nightcrawler. Spider-Man witnessed one of Jigsaw's murders, and one of his victims was an old friend of Nightcrawler.  Jigsaw later battled Spider-Man again.

After several encounters with the Punisher, Jigsaw was taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. While imprisoned, he was seemingly shot dead by the man that he and his girlfriend (who was actually undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Lynn Michaels) had brainwashed.  Jigsaw survived the attempt on his life, and was transferred to a "reprogramming asylum" by H.A.M.M.E.R.  He became part of the Hood's gang during the Secret Invasion event to assist in fending off the invading Skrulls, and rejoined again in the Dark Reign event to help attack the New Avengers.

Barnes will the second actor to portray Jigsaw in live-action, after Dominic West in the 2008 film Punisher: War Zone.  The character's name was changed to Billy "The Beaut" Russoti.

The Punisher is expected to air on Netflix sometime in 2017.

DAREDEVIL Spinoff Series THE PUNISHER Ordered by Netflix

Good news for you, bad news for criminals.

Entertainment Weekly and Marvel have confirmed that Netflix has ordered a spinoff series of The Punisher, based on the Marvel Comics character played by Jon Bernthal in Daredevil Season 2.  This will be the sixth Marvel series for Netflix, after Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders.

According to the articles, writer and executive producer Steve Lightfoot (Hannibal, Casualty) will serve as the series' showrunner.  The project was first reported by TVLine last summer.

"For me, the complexity and unpredictability of Frank Castle make him an incredibly compelling character and I couldn’t be more excited to dive into his world," said Lightfoot. "After watching Jon’s performance in Marvel’s Daredevil, I could not be more excited to be working with him to further develop and progress the story of this anti-hero in a show of his own."

"We want to thank the fans who are clamoring for more of Jon’s stunning and powerful performance as Frank Castle from Marvel’s Daredevil," said Executive Producer/Head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb.  "Now combined with showrunner Steve Lightfoot’s compelling writing, we’re thrilled to bring Marvel’s The Punisher to Netflix."

"Jon hooked our global audience with his performance as Frank Castle from the moment he stepped on screen in Marvel’s Daredevil, and we are looking forward to seeing more of him in this role under the vision of Steve Lightfoot," said Cindy Holland, Netflix Vice President of Original Content.

Created in 1974 by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and John Romita, Sr., The Punisher first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) #129 as Frank Castlle, a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his war on crime.  He was determined to kill Spider-Man, who was wanted for the apparent murder of Norman Osborn.  He later encountered other heroes, such as Captain America and Nightcrawler, then faced off against Daredevil, whose more liberal views of crime often put them on opposite sides.

Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob during a shootout in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry.  His family's killers were the first to be slain.  A war veteran of the U.S. military, Frank Castle is a master of martial arts, stealth tactics, guerrilla warfare, and a wide variety of weapons.

DAREDEVIL Season 2 Trailer Teases The Punisher & Elektra

The Man Without Fear's life is about to get way more complicated.

Netflix has released the first of two trailers for the second season of their hit series Daredevil, based on the Marvel Comics superhero.  In this two-minute, forty-second trailer, we see that Matt Murdock is about to encounter a new player in town, The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), and face the return of an old flame, Elektra Natchios (Élodie Yung).

The trailer opens with images of Frank Castle's home, as we hear him whisper "One batch, two batch" from a children's book as he readies one of his weapons.

We then see Matt having another discussion with Father Lantom (Peter McRobbie), his priest from Season One.  "Father, why do I still feel guilty?" Matt asks.

"The guilt," replies Father Lantom, "means your work is not yet finished."

At the scene of multiple murders, Matt meets up with an NYPD cop to get some information.  "Downtown office thinks we got a new player in Hell's Kitchen," remarks the detective.

"What do they want?" asks Matt, apparently thinking this was a gang hit.

"D.A.'s office says the shooter is independent," replies the cop.  "He's tracking gangs to their home turf and taking them out with military precision, with knowledge and hardware to take out half the city.  Hell's Kitchen is about to explode."

As we see The Punisher blowing up something and watching with cold detachment, we hear the voice of Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) discussing the new threat.  "Maybe we created him," Karen remarks to Matt Murdock.  "All of us."

"There's no connection," replies Matt.  

"We never stopped to think that Daredevil's actions could open the door for men like this," Karen adds, as she studies the X-ray of someone's skull, teasing the Punisher's familiar chest emblem from the comics.  

"How much longer before innocent people start getting caught in his crossfire?" Matt asks as The Punisher takes out another target with a sniper rifle.

We cut to a heated discussion between Matt and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson).  "Blood is being shed!" Matt exclaims.

"And you've donated more than your fair share!" counters Foggy as we see someone (probably Matt), wringing blood out of a wet article of clothing.

We briefly see the return of Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), who tells Foggy, "The city needs him."

Cut to The Punisher, who says to Daredevil, "I need to take care of the scum that killed my family"

We see Daredevil in another hallway fight, as Daredevil continues the discussion.  "People don't have to die."

"You hit 'em and they get back up, I hit 'em and they stay down," counters The Punisher.

We see The Punisher shooting at Daredevil, who asks why he's doing this.

"Because I think you're a half measure," replies The Punisher.  "I think you're a man who can't finish the job.  I think that you're a coward."

"You know you're one bad day away from being me," he adds.

Lastly, we see Matt returning home to find his college girlfriend Elektra waiting for him on the couch.  "Hello, Matthew," she says with a calm demeanor.

If you'd like to check out the first trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Netflix account on YouTube...




The second trailer will be released on February 25th, while Daredevil Season Two will be released on Netflix on March 18, 2016.

DAREDEVIL Casts Jon Bernthal as The Punisher

Crime in Hell's Kitchen is about to drop significantly.

Marvel has announced that the Netflix series Daredevil has cast actor Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, better known to Marvel Comics fans as The Punisher.  The announcement describes The Punisher as "a vigilante who aims to clean up New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen by any means necessary, no matter how lethal the results."

"Jon Bernthal brings an unmatched intensity to every role he takes on," said Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television, "with a potent blend of power, motivation and vulnerability that will connect with audiences.  Castle’s appearance will bring dramatic changes to the world of Matt Murdock and nothing will be the same."

Bernthal, 38, is best known as the dangerous Shane Walsh on the AMC series The Walking Dead, which earned him a Scream Award nomination for Breakout Performance Male in 2011.  In addition, Bernthal has appeared in the films Fury and The Wolf of Wall Street, and has had roles on the television series Mob City, The Pacific, Eastwick, How I Met Your Mother, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI: Miami, and Boston Legal.

Created in 1974 by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and John Romita, Sr., The Punisher first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) #129 as Frank Castlle, a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his war on crime.  He was determined to kill Spider-Man, who was wanted for the apparent murder of Norman Osborn.  He later encountered other heroes, such as Captain America and Nightcrawler, then faced off against Daredevil, whose more liberal views of crime often put them on opposite sides.

Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob during a shootout in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry.  His family's killers were the first to be slain.  A war veteran of the U.S. military, Frank Castle is a master of martial arts, stealth tactics, guerrilla warfare, and a wide variety of weapons.

Bernthal will be the fourth actor to portray The Punisher in live action, after Dolph Lundrgen in the film The Punisher (1989), Thomas Jane in The Punisher (2004), and Ray Stevenson in the 2008 sequel Punisher: War Zone.

The character has also appeared in a number of animated projects, including Spider-Man: The Animated Series (voiced by John Beck), The Super Hero Squad Show (voiced by Ray Stevenson), Iron Man: Rise of Technovore (voiced by Bernthal's Walking Dead co-star Norman Reedus), and Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (voiced by Brian Bloom).

Daredevil is expected to return for Season 2 on Netflix sometime in April 2016.

DAMN Good Comics -- THE PUNISHER #7

A year ago, I was of the opinion that after Garth Ennis' definitive run on The Punisher for Marvel's MAX mature readers line, there wasn't anything left to be said about the character of Frank Castle and his neverending mission to "punish" criminals.

I don't think I feel that way anymore.

Over the past six months, writer Greg Rucka has managed to make the Punisher interesting again, mostly by giving him an equally interesting supporting cast of characters.  New York Police Detective Oscar "Ozzy" Clemons gets the spotlight this issue, in a low-key but fascinating procedural tale called "The String."  Obsessively clicking a switchblade hunting knife from beginning to end, Ozzy struggles to follow the string of the Punisher's actions and takes his partner Walter Bolt along for the ride.

Rucka rewards longtime Daredevil and Punisher fans by resetting a classic rooftop brawl between the two that took place in Daredevil (vol.1) #257 by Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr.  Reworking the events from Ozzy's perspective, Rucka ties this current series in with classic Marvel continuity while providing new details in the process.  It's a fun, clever idea, although it now seems hard to reconcile the Punisher that once wore a tightfitting black costume with white gloves and boots with the modern version that prefers regular clothes with a black t-shirt with a skull sloppily spray-painted in white.

The art for this issue is by Rucka's former creative partner Michael Lark, who provides his typically terrific work here.  Together again, Rucka and Lark capture the feel of their previous DC Comics series Gotham Central, mixing a gritty police detective tale with the world of costumed vigilantes.  Regular artist Marco Checchetto has been producing some excellent work on this book, but Lark seems to complement the tone of Rucka's script better and gives this character piece a bit more edge than it might have had otherwise.

And even though the Punisher appears only in flashback form, fans can be reassured that his presence is still felt everywhere.  Just follow the string.