Karen Page wasn't planned for 'The Punisher', but showrunner wanted her

CORRECTION: Oct. 26, 2017, 4:49 p.m. SG A previous version of this story erroneously named the character as Jessica Jones. This was incorrect, and has been updated to reflect that Lightfoot was referring to Karen Page.

Some may have been surprised when Marvel character Karen Page was announced to be part of the upcoming Netflix series The Punisher.

Showrunner Steve Lightfoot revealed that Page, played by Deborah Ann Woll, wasn't initially planned to cross over into the series, but he requested to write her in, because of the chemistry between the two characters.

"I asked to have her, because she and Frank [Castle] are so great," he said, during a visit to Singapore.

Referring to titular character The Punisher, a.k.a. Frank Castle, Lightfoot said, "Frank is a closed-off military guy, and this is a woman he treats like an equal more than anyone else."

The British writer, who previously worked as executive producer and writer for the Hannibal TV series, was brought on in 2016 to write The Punisher, a spinoff of Netflix's crossover Marvel series, The Defenders.

He said the 13 hours of Season 1 will allow him to flesh out the nuances of Castle's antihero, played by Jon Bernthal.

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"This is an opportunity for me to write something in the action [genre], but also touch on issues around soldiers and veterans.

"Grief is something we all can identify with, and it's about this guy coming back from war dealing with grief," he said.

To shoot Bernthal's gritty action sequences, he decided to adopt much wider lenses than the other Marvel TV shows did, in order to get up closer.

While Daredevil's fight scenes showcase a martial arts style, The Punisher is a military guy who's trying to put down a target in as few moves as possible, according to Lightfoot. "The scenes are not about the ballet of the fight," he said.

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The Punisher arrives on Netflix on Nov. 17, and will come in 4K and support Dolby Atmos sound systems.