The Punisher was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Bohemian Risk Productions, with Lightfoot serving as showrunner.

Jon Bernthal reprises his role from Daredevil as Frank Castle / Punisher, a vigilante who uses lethal methods to fight crime.

Development on a spin-off began by January 2016, and Netflix ordered the series that April when the involvement of Bernthal and Lightfoot was confirmed.

They were met with mixed reviews, but received several accolades including a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination.

In October 2011, ABC Studios sold a script based on the Punisher to Fox, who gave the project a put pilot commitment.

The series would be an hour-long procedural following NYPD detective Frank Castle, "whose alter ego is that of a vigilante seeking justice for those failed by the court system."

[30] By January 2016, ahead of the Daredevil season two release, Netflix was in "very early development" on a spin-off series titled The Punisher, and was looking for a showrunner.

"[35] In April 2016, Netflix officially ordered a full 13-episode season of The Punisher, confirmed Bernthal's involvement, and named Steve Lightfoot as executive producer and showrunner.

[16] Bernthal had been cast as Castle in June 2015 to appear in the second season of Daredevil,[3] and was confirmed to be reprising the role for the spin-off in April 2016.

[12] The next month, set photos revealed that Deborah Ann Woll would reprise her Daredevil role as Karen Page,[17] while Barnes was announced as playing Billy Russo, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Amber Rose Revah also joined the series, as David Lieberman / Micro and Dinah Madani, respectively.

[18] At the end of October, Marvel announced the additional casting of Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson,[14][15] Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, Paul Schulze as William Rawlins, Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman, and Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein.

[19][20] They are joined by Josh Stewart as John Pilgrim, Floriana Lima as Krista Dumont, and Giorgia Whigham as Amy Bendix, who were cast in February 2018.

[52] Marketing analytics firm Jumpshot, which tracks five billion actions a day across 100 million devices to deliver insights into online consumer behavior, reported that The Punisher generated 24,569,232 views in Q1 2019, although it saw a 40% drop in viewership during its first weekend compared to season one.

The site's critical consensus reads, "A rocky start can't keep The Punisher from pushing the boundaries of Marvel's TV universe with a fresh take on the comics-derived action thriller.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Punisher's second season leaves fans torn between the undeniably action-packed fun and the underwhelming portrayal of the charismatic Frank Castle.

[78] Hulu's senior vice president of originals Craig Erwich also said that the streaming service was open to reviving the former Netflix series.