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Why Daredevil Isn't in The Punisher

Where is Matt Murdock?

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Megan Vick

Marvel's The Punisher has officially deployed on Netflix, but it probably doesn't feel like the rest of the Netflix Marvel Universe.

That's because despite Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) being introduced in Daredevil Season 2, there's very little connecting the veteran vigilante to the rest of New York's street-level heroes. Yes, Daredevil's Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) has a sizable part in this new chapter of Frank's story, but there's no appearance or serious reference to any of the other heroes running around the city -- specifically Daredevil (Charlie Cox) himself.

There's a few good reasons for that. First of all, Frank is dealing with the ghosts of his past for most of The Punisher's season, and those have basically nothing to do with Daredevil or any of the other Defenders. Daredevil isn't mentioned because he's no longer relevant to Frank's narrative, at least not at this point in time.

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The second thing is (SPOILER ALERT), Daredevil is "dead" and Matt Murdock is missing according to everyone Frank knows. At the end of Marvel's The Defenders, Daredevil, Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Iron Fist (Finn Jones) and Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) all went into a building to defeat The Hand. Daredevil never came out. Fans found out at the end of the series that Daredevil/Matt is still alive, but to everyone in New York he's still presumed dead.

It's important to remember that Frank has no idea that Daredevil and Matt are the same person. So while Frank built a rapport with Daredevil in the blind hero's sophomore season, he and Matt barely made it past civil discourse. The Punisher's closest connection was to Karen, which is why she appears in The Punisher's debut season. Frank wouldn't think to ask Karen about her lawyer friend because he didn't like him that much. Since he doesn't know Matt and Daredevil are the same person, Frank wouldn't ask Karen about Daredevil because there's no reason to believe Karen would know anything about the missing vigilante.

In summary: Daredevil didn't show up to help Frank take down the bad guys because he's presumed dead and really stuck in some sort of hospital in an unknown location. Frank didn't ask about him showing up because he assumes no one in his inner circle would know what he's talking about.

Marvel's The Punisher is currently streaming on Netflix.