Steve Lightfoot, the showrunner for The Punisher, has explained why he prefers a season of 13 episodes as opposed to 10.
The Netflix Marvel properties have consistently come under criticism for the same reasoning, with many people believing that the seasons contain too many episodes (13) for the amount of story the shows have to tell.
Steve Lightfoot, the showrunner on The Punisher, doesn’t agree with this analysis and has stated why he would prefer to have 13 episodes instead of 10. Speaking to Collider, Lightfoot said:
“It’s an interesting thing, that. People have always said to me, ‘Do you wish you’d have had 10?’ and then I say, ‘Well then you would’ve had less story’. I always wanted it to be a slow burn show. I always felt like we had the right amount for 13, and you’ve gotta have enough story for that but I like how slow burn and character-driven the shows are.”
Lightfoot also commented on if either the positive or negative reactions season 1 received will influence season 2 of The Punisher: “That’s always tricky because you get such a variation, some people love it, some people hate it, some people are in the middle. My personal opinion with that stuff is you just have to be true to the character and the story you choose to tell. You want them to love it obviously, but if you start worrying about the audience it can be a trap. I think we just have to keep trying to be true to Frank’s character and make him someone people want to hang out with.”
Let us know where you come down on the episode count debate. Is Lightfoot right to favour the 13 episode approach? Or do you think these Netflix shows would benefit from a more streamlined approach?
SEE ALSO: Frank Castle and Jigsaw exchange gunfire in The Punisher season 2 set video and photos
AdrFax says
I guess in this era of binge watching and instant gratification, people no longer feel lenient towards a ‘slow-burn’ approach, when the savoring that would take weeks to process is condensed to an evening and a half of disappointment, depending on how many directions the characters have been stretched over that time, and how consistent or believable their behavior is presented throughout. For example, a twist that would make some sense after 10 weeks of contemplation over how the story could go, wouldn’t be as successfully translated when you’ve barely invested 10 hours swallowing all the material at once. The Netflix shows in particular can play out as 13+ hour movies instead of episodic storytelling, which certainly burns out some viewers in retrospect.