Marvel fans were left devastated earlier this year when Netflix decided to cancel Disney’s challenge to them with the announcement of Disney+.
10. Daredevil
This one is an obvious choice, because Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle is literally in it. He had Netflix’s Marvel show massacre.
9. Ozark
Although it’s set in the chilly Ozarks, far away from the big-city settings of The Punisher didn’t have a vigilante going through the corrupt organizations and killing anyone with unscrupulous morals.
There are gangsters trying to bilk other gangsters out of money and shady dealings with crooked politicians – plus, The Punisher.
8. Godless
If one of the top ten TV shows of the year when it was released in 2017.
7. Mindhunter
will cover the Atlanta murders of 1979-81.
6. The Shield
FX’s premier crime drama The Shield is more of a police procedural than The Punisher, which is sort of a vigilante procedural, but they both feature a brooding, violent antihero as a lead protagonist. In The Shield, that antihero is Vic Mackey, a dirty cop played by Michael Chiklis who would do anything for his family (or for money). Mackey is surrounded by an interesting ensemble of characters, including cops who are far more corrupt than him and cops who are far less corrupt than him. Kurt Sutter, one of the writers who worked on The Shield, would go on to create Sons of Anarchy for the same network.
5. The Walking Dead
The zombie-infested premise of The Walking Dead might not seem in line with the grit and grime of a version of that guy who couldn’t come back from his madness.
4. Altered Carbon
Also on Netflix, this sci-fi neo noir series is like he’ll take on a new host body), is a highly skilled, very dangerous, and very cool ass-kicker in the mold of Frank Castle.
It’s the most beautifully rendered visual take on the cyberpunk genre to date, with crisp visual effects resulting from a season 1 production budget that was reportedly bigger than the budget for the first three seasons of Game of Thrones combined.
3. Peaky Blinders
Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy star in this gritty crime drama about a criminal organization in Birmingham, England, in the late 1910s and early 1920s in the aftermath of the First World War. That chapter of history screwed up the gang’s operations, since a lot of their guys were sent off to fight in the war, leaving the matriarch in charge. The title comes from the gangsters’ hats, which would contain blades that The Punisher, if not more.
2. Preacher
AMC’s Preacher is based on Garth Ennis’ action-packed horror comics of the same name. Just like It’ll end this year with its fourth and final season.
1. Luke Cage
Another show from The Punisher. It’s not quite as brutal, but its lead character does the same sort of thing. He’s a lone wolf who bursts into buildings full of criminals and tears his way through them until they’re all dead. In Frank Castle’s case, this is because he’s a very well-trained soldier who can withstand gunshots when he’s on a warpath. In Luke Cage’s case, it’s because he’s got superhuman strength that makes him impervious to bullets.