Thinking about: A Decade of Marvels, an animated show like no other.
The pitch I have is for an animated network of shows pitched all at once and released in careful, semi-rapid sequence. The decade is the story. The first week of releases is 1 episode of a different show Monday-Sunday, each first episode is an introductory episode for a character or team. Not every show is the same length, not every show releases every week, shows follow their own stories, individual episodes are anywhere between 22 and 45 minutes, all shows take place in the same Marvel New York, every episode is released sequenced in time with the linear calendar of events in the united timeline of the show.
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For example:
Monday: Fantastic Four, Tuesday: Thor, Wednesday: Hulk, Thursday: Spider-man, Friday: Fantastic Four, Saturday: Hulk, Sunday: Thor -
The episodes release in this order because the events in the episodes take place in the order of release.
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Understanding some initial crucial points:
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This is not a retelling of the Marvel Universe, this is to be approached like the DCAU, a combination of ideas both original and homage intended to freshen and interest the casual and longtime fan of the material. Liberties are taken at the expense and leisure of the writer and are to be expected in the course of the writing in bulk.
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This is not intended to be the beginning, middle, and end of the Marvel world and its stories, rather it is the 10 years of the 1960’s which just so happen to be a tumultuous period in the relative time of the setting. Shenanigans having to deal with time travel or dimensional upheaval are to be taken at the cost of the characters in question and not at the cost of the story or setting as a whole
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Show Profile: The Punisher
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Looking at this formulaically and as a whole and linear product, the Punisher should be a shadow that encroaches on the very last chapter of the decade of the 60’s and therefore some of the final episodes of the show. Where the decade IS full of fantasy and wonder and the denial of entropy and death, the background of the rise of the country is the stagnation of the world and the lack of direction in the American abroad who has to come home. Where the drama of the early decade was elemental God of Entropy Galactus, then the mutant counter culture of the middle 60’s, the last of the decade evolves the human threat, Foreign and Domestic.
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When I say “A shadow encroaching” I really mean this. It should only come up on a few radars in Marvel’s NYC that groups of gangsters are getting gunned down on their blocks, fewer still have the capacity or interest to track down the particular calling card of the killer- that of the Skull engraved on spent brass.
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The Punisher should get his first op-ed and some recognition when he gets photographed for the first time- the first time he allows himself to be photographed he is in the black and white regalia after killing his first Supervillain. This starts the life and times of the Punisher we know as the dark counterpart to Daredevil, the psycho to Spiderman. He enters their world only at this juncture.
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A decade of near misses from civilization ending threats has rattled the consciousness of America, and it is finally, prematurely, pried from its aims in Vietnam. One of the many returned to the nations shores in June of 1968, a few short months after the Battle of Hue City, the most brutal urban combat since Stalingrad in the history of modern warfare, was Marine Corps infantryman Frank Castle. By July of 1968, The Punisher walked the streets of New York.
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A serious “issue” with the Punisher is gauging his effectiveness. If he is too effective, he becomes relatable- the Punisher should never be relatable. If he is totally ineffective he becomes a villain- the Punisher is not categorically a Villain.
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A secondary “issue” is what the Punisher actually does: The reality of the Punisher’s day to day is that it would be monotonous for months of his initial year. The most prolific and lethal serial killer of all time equipped with modern weaponry and a total plethora of targets big and small, and a news cycle that will ignore him because of the regularity of more fantastical events. It is possible that The Punisher reaches a kill count in the literal thousands in mere months if he travels the whole East Coast and does not just stick to NYC.
- We solve this problem in our next bullet point
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The third “issue” is the look and feel of The Punisher: why does he bother with a “superheroic” outfit when, unfortunately, the MCU-ified tactical gear would suit him so much better, or better yet just wearing normal clothes. Without making accession to “well its a comic book” we can come up with a more intelligent answer in no short order.
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The Punisher might tally his kill count into the thousands, but somewhere around the 1200 mark he will start to cross paths with real Supervillains (this is ignoring his introduction as a foil to Spiderman as his origin, which can and should still be worked in, but for Spiderman- not Punisher) and as he does battle with Supervillains, probably the first group of targets he has that are not practically defenseless against his tactics and methods, he has to step up his game. The fact is that Supervillains should really kick Frank’s ass at first, and it should take a serious escalation of his war in order to match them. But that isn’t at all outside of the range of Frank Castle. The Battle Van gets upgrades, he enlists Micro, he puts on the Black and White.
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There is the follow on “issue” of who exactly The Punisher is going to kill. I am probably an indelicate authority to decide that, as I don’t really have the same reverence for some of the longer running matchups that a lifelong Marvel fan might have. My recommendation would be to start with villains who are accessible to Punisher “at the street level” and work from there.
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As far as the character psychology of the Punisher is concerned, I think Frank Castle is not a terribly complicated individual. He Should represent in part a listless, ignored, and mistreated group of Americans who have become proficient in anti-civilizational methods. For his part, the Punisher represents the guys who are too essentially good to join up with the Hells Angels, Frank still loves Captain America- counter to what some say Frank still loves America and believes in the revival of the dream, but the country that he returns to takes what little he has to anchor himself to it, and so he is forced (in his mind) into the only course of action that will keep him sane, which is a return to Hue City where things made visceral and immediate sense.
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I am a fan of the Captain America angle to Punisher, I think Punisher spends alot of time with Daredevil and no one can deny their chemistry as it is established by one of the greats, and I like Punisher opposite Spiderman as well, but one we don’t see too often that I long for is semi-consistent contact between Captain America and Punisher. Best portrayed in Marvel’s Civil War, also worst portrayed there in part, is the idea that Frank gets the idea for his literal outfit from Captain America’s look. Especially in a country where Captain America is freshly returning, Frank would have this on his mind, it would be topical and a notable addition to his war on crime. What Cap thinks of this, is the other side of the coin to be explored.
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To that effect I like the idea that Frank joined up voluntarily thinking of things like Captain America and only did one tour in Vietnam, it was just the tour of a lifetime, Hue City is the worst fighting of the war and unlike any of the jungle combat before or after in its urban nature. It is also the least popular action of the war, and the perfect one for Frank to have been pivotal in. To Frank, its not that NYC is the concrete jungle, its that NYC is Hue City, murderholes and tunnels on every corner, a hostile population embedded with enemy sympathizers, allied forces who won’t commit to the fight, but he is finally free from restrictive ROE- this war is his to wage.
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I think Punisher’s ideal arc structure is:
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Introduction with his earned but small reputation as death incarnate to gangbangers, early to middle periods of encountering Super Villains of increasing importance, being thwarted and having to adapt, and then mid to late arcs of being stopped by Heroes and having to adapt to that, his finale being:
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Actively being recruited to SHIELD, being brought in by MACVSOG notary Nick Fury to do some black ops for them in Canada stopping a legitimate threat to the country. This is how I would intro the Wolverine, but we shan’t stray there. Predictably this op goes badly for Frank, and he gets stuck out in the cold, injured but alive, and Fury leaves him to die. This hardens Frank for what is to come, a long absence, multiple years, before his reappearance during either the Evil Avengers or Civil War in the decade after. But to the 60’s- the Punisher dies deep in the arctic Canadian North after unleashing forces beyond his comprehension.
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The Punisher would get rapid fire back to back episodes, periodized by long pauses in publication while he gets ready for something specific, then another rapid fire of episodes. Probably triple episode dumps in a weeks time then silence for a while. That way when he reappears after we are approved for the 70’s, he is on track to reappear after long absence in time of need.