Frank Castle is coming back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this time, he’s not alone. A new teaser for Marvel’s The Punisher goes heavy on Frank’s hacker ally, Microchip, giving the teaser a distinct post-Snowden flavor.
What Happened:
On Thursday afternoon, Marvel uploaded a new Facebook live teaser for The Punisher, the next Marvel series coming to Netflix. Composed mostly of random surveillance video, the teaser “glitches” to reveal Microchip (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach), but with his face and voice obscured.
“This is a message for the liars who kill Patriots and call them traitors, who tell them they’re doing god’s work and send them to hell,” Microchip ominously says under scrambled audio and video. “To the people who were betrayed by the country they swore that they’d protect, to the families that have to bury their loved ones without knowing why they died, or who they died for… I know what they made you do. They’re trying to silence us.”
Microchip then pauses before ending: “I’ll see you soon, Frank.”
What It Means
Well, Frank Castle isn’t going to be alone as the Punisher. With his past haunting him, there’s an overwhelming anti-government, anti-surveillance state tinge to The Punisher, which is altogether new for the Punisher and keeping within the tradition of Punisher’s rebellious character.
Introduced in The Punisher #4 in 1987, Microchip has been an ally of the Punisher by building Frank weapons and providing eyes and ears during missions. Recently, Microchip and Punisher have been bitter enemies, but for a long time, Microchip was like the Oracle to Punisher’s Batman, or Q to Punisher’s James Bond. While the Netflix series could turn Microchip into his next enemy, for now, it seems they’ll be working as trusted allies.
Microchip, in the pages of Marvel's 'The Punisher' comics.
In the MCU continuity, Microchip has been referenced before. In an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daisy (who went by the hacker identity “Skye”) once name-dropped a hacker named “Micro” during her time as a member of the Rising Tide. “Micro” was referenced again in Season 2 of Daredevil, with Castle receiving a CD-ROM disc with “Micro” written on it.
Now, in The Punisher, Microchip is finally going to appear in the flesh.
What’s Next:
While it’s doubtful Microchip could be the one to finally bridge an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. crossover with Marvel’s Netflix-verse, Microchip will no doubt be a formidable partner in Frank Castle’s ruthless war against crime and those who did him wrong.
See the video below.
There is still no release date for The Punisher on Netflix.
