Bill vs. The MCU: The Punisher (2004) & Punisher War Zone (2008)

Hello and welcome to Bill vs the MCU! Each month your hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Pop Break Podcasting Director Alex Marcus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Pop Break Editor in Chief Bill Bodkin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are taking another step into the wider Marvel Multiverse as the MCU dives deeper into their Multiverse Saga.

Bill & Alex spent all of 2022 rewatching the first four phases of the MCU, and, in the years since, they have covered all of Netflix’s The Defenders Saga, the first four seasons of ABC’s Agents of SHIELD, and all 14 films in Fox’s X-Verse.

Now they are diving into their Marvel Zombies Era, where they run down some of Marvel Entertainment’s most notable and notorious films featuring characters the MCU would later reclaim! 

This month, it’s Frank Castle’s time to shine as they discuss 2004’s The Punisher starring Thomas Janes and John Travolta and 2008’s Punisher: War Zone starring the late Ray Stevenson and Dominic West. How do these iterations of the iconic avenging angel compare to the Jon Bernthal version we’ve seen on Netflix? Is the 2004 version as terrible as you remember? Will you learn more than you bargained for about Bill’s college dating life? All this and more will be revealed, but, before that, the guys dive into the recent news that ⁠Bernthal will be returning as both star and co-writer of a Disney Plus Punisher special⁠, planned to air alongside Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, next year.

Come back next month for their installment of their Marvel’s Zombie Era, featuring reviews of 1998’s Blade (available on VOD), 2002’s Blade II (available on VOD), and 2004’s Blade: Trinity (available on VOD)!