It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that Marvel movies have really shit villains. But fortunately, so far, the bad guys on the Netflix Marvel shows, set within the MCU, have been the best parts of the sometimes patchy shows: Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk was so good he made us wish the show was called “Kingpin” and not “Daredevil,” while David Tennant was indelibly creepy on “Jessica Jones.”
And now, one of the villains, or anti-heroes at least, is getting his own show, with “The Punisher” set to follow the still-to-debut “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist” and team-up miniseries “The Defenders” on the streaming service. The show will center on murderous, skull-chested vigilante, played memorably by Jon Bernthal. And now he’s got a villain of his own, as TV Line report that British actor Ben Barnes has joined the show as a nemesis for Castle.
Barnes is still best known for playing Prince Caspian in two “Narnia” movies in the late-00s, but his credits also include “Dorian Gray” and “Seventh Son,” and he has a main role in HBO’s upcoming, and eagerly anticipated “Westworld.” Exact details on his role aren’t clear, but rumors suggest he’ll play Bobby Saint, the scion of a crime family, who was played by Frank Carpinello in the 2004 Thomas Jane-starring movie. He didn’t live long there, but Barnes’ early casting announcement suggests that he’ll be a more prominent force here, if this is the right character. Personally, we imagine that Bernthal would eat Barnes for breakfast, but counter-intuitive casting has worked well with these shows before. “The Punisher” will likely arrive on Netflix in 2018.
Meanwhile, away from “The Punisher” (who, in related Marvel news, Chris Pratt has named to We Got This Covered as the character he’d most like to see meet Star-Lord in future “Avengers” movies, with Pratt also promising to the Toronto Sun that “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2” will be “the biggest spectacle movie of all time”), we got our best glimpse of the villain of the imminent “Luke Cage,” thanks to a new clip at Coming Soon.
The clip sees Mahershala Ali (who’s having a hell of a year between this, “Moonlight,” “Hidden Figures” and “Kicks”) introduce himself as well-dressed villain Cottonmouth, in front of a portrait of Notorious B.I.G, no less. Watch that clip below: “Luke Cage” premieres on Netflix on September 30th.