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Punisher On Marvel’s ‘Agents Of SHIELD’? The Perfect Fit For The ‘AoS’ Darker Tone In Season 4

By Daniel Ketchum
Published on: 05:50 PST, Sep 25, 2016

According to Collider, vague but exciting rumors are suggesting the possibility that Marvel might allow the bloodsoaked Punisher on Agents of SHIELD. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD started its new season last Tuesday with a new time and a new grittier tone. But if these rumors are true, things are about to get even darker. A lot darker.

For its fourth season on ABC, Agents of SHIELD has moved to 10 o’clock on Tuesday night. The new time slot lets the show be a bit sexier and a lot bloodier. This is made clear by the fact that in this premier episode of Agents of SHIELD, the fire headed Ghost Rider joined the cast of characters and began tearing bad guys apart.

As noted by the Christian Science Monitor, Marvel has decided to resurrect the moribund Ghost Rider after his last disappointing outing in the second Nicholas Cage movie of the same name. This time, the Ghost Rider isn’t the Johnny Blaze character of the Cage films, but instead is a new Ghost Rider named Robbie Reyes – as played by Gabriel Luna – introduced a few years ago in Marvel comics.

But if anyone can be scarier and darker than the avenging spirit on wheels, it would have to be the Punisher – as played by Jon Bernthal – on the hit Marvel Netflix series Daredevil. But like the Ghost Rider, the Punisher character had several disappointing outings in films.

But most people who have watched the second season of Daredevil– in which this version of the Punisher first appeared – agree that Bernthal’s depiction of the brutal, vengeance-seeking former police officer is absolutely perfect. In fact – after the rave reviews the character received – Marvel immediately decided to roll out a spinoff series for the Punisher on Netflix.

Actors Jon Bernthal, Elodie Yung, Deborah Ann Woll, and Charlie Cox attend the "Daredevil" Season 2 Premiere. [Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]
Actors Jon Bernthal, Elodie Yung, Deborah Ann Woll, and Charlie Cox attend the “Daredevil” Season 2 Premiere. [Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]

The rumor that the Punisher might show up on Agents of SHIELD is being fed by two pieces of evidence. One is a tweet put out by New York Comic Con suggesting that Bernthal wouldn’t be able to make more than a weekend appearance this year because of his heavy shooting schedule on Netflix.

But since there are no indications that Bernthal’s new Punisher series is filming – or that he is filming for any of the other Netflix/Marvel series – this is suspicious. If he’s not filming as the Punisher for any of these other series, could Bernthal be filming for Agents of SHIELD?

There’s also the fact that the Agents of SHIELD is trying to go dark in its late-night slot. If the show really is going for a darker tone in its fourth season, Bernthal’s Punisher could be exactly what they need. Daredevil Season 2 was – largely thanks to the Punisher – one of the bloodiest, most violent and most action-packed television series ever produced.

Unlike Agents of SHIELD – where the agents have often used “ICER” pistols to simply knock out the bad guys – the Punisher prefers to actually kill the bad guys. In fact, in the Daredevil series, the Punisher criticizes Daredevil for being unwilling to go all the way.

Of course, even though in this new season premiere the body count and blood and gore factor on Agents of SHIELD went up several notches, it’s not entirely clear how well the character of the Punisher will mesh with the usually squeaky clean SHIELD agents. Even with the show’s darker tone, will the Punisher seem out of place?

As of yet, the Punisher on Agents of SHIELD is still just a rumor. On the other hand, Spiderman appearing in Captain America: Civil War was just a rumor until Marvel announced it was happening. We live in exciting times.

[Featured Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]

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