Here’s what you need to know ahead of the Punisher premiere

Marvel’s The Punisher hits Netflix this Friday, which is probably too soon for you to begin your holiday break. But if you’re preparing to binge regardless, we have a handy primer that will clue you in on what Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) has been up to since blazing a trail in Hell’s Kitchen in Daredevil season two.

To new beginnings

Introduced in Marvel’s Daredevil as a one-man army trying to execute everyone in New York’s organized crime network, Frank Castle wanted revenge for the death of his family, but the “why” didn’t really matter to Daredevil, who didn’t like the idea of another vigilante roaming the streets. The diametrical opposites clashed a few times before Castle was imprisoned, but it wasn’t long before The Punisher was in the wind again. Once he found out his former commanding officer, Ray Schoonover (Clancy Brown), was behind the murder of his family, Frank made himself judge, jury, and executioner. The iconic skull made its first appearance as The Punisher wrapped his arc on Daredevil.

This is all relatively close to The Punisher’s origin in the comics, with the main constant being that his family gets killed, usually by mobsters, and that prompts him to go on a brutal quest for vengeance. How Castle and his quest are portrayed varies from book to book, though, with some depicting him as a righteous hero and others as an unhinged psychopath. But Bernthal and showrunner Steve Lightfoot, while certainly taking inspiration from this mythos, have gone a different route, crafting a character who’s more ambiguous antihero than unrelenting killing machine. This spin-off finds The Punisher trying but failing to put his vigilantism behind him, and running into new and old acquaintances while still mired in grief. Lightfoot keeps the violence in check in what is a thoughtful examination of the psychological effects of brutality. The show has institutions in its sights, not just low-level thugs. But there’s still plenty of hand-to-hand combat, though, and new conspiracies to explore.

Allies and foes (who, let’s face it, could probably go either way)

Agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah): Madani is a Homeland Security agent whose own goals happen to intersect with The Punisher’s, causing them to butt heads as they try to dismantle the same conspiracy in different ways. She’s an original creation for the show, whom Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb has described as a “different way of going from the typical cop who was chasing Frank.” And she’s every bit as calculating and stubborn as her suspect.