The Punisher: Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple Will Be Absent

Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple will be absent in Marvel’s The Punisher.

In every film franchise or series, there’s always a character or two that act as the glue for the overall story arc. Like Star Wars’ C-3PO and R2-D2 appearing in every film in that series, Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple has appeared in every Netflix Marvel series to-date—but she won’t be in Marvel’s The Punisher.

In a recent interview with Collider, Dawson confirmed that she will be noticeably absent in the upcoming, highly anticipated series:

"I really wanted to do a cameo on The Punisher, but it doesn’t always work that way."

The character of Clarie Temple first appeared in Marvel’s Daredevil Season 1 as a night shift nurse who finds Matt Murdock severely injured. She’s the first person to learn of Matt’s secret identity as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, and becomes his go-to emergency care, as well as an ally in the hero’s crusade.

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Claire later returned for Marvel’s Daredevil Season 2 and made appearances in Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Luke Cage, and Marvel’s Iron Fist. Her character is the only one who has interacted with all four Defenders.

It’s a shame that this popular character won’t be making an appearance. Though time and planning are the reasons why she can’t be in the new series, the absence of her character can probably be explained within the context of the story. That is, Frank Castle doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who even needs medical care.

In his explosive introduction in Marvel’s Daredevil Season 2, the Punisher was presented as someone who could withstand great pain and push himself beyond any physical limitations. Even with the most severe of injuries, the anti-hero only saw them as minor setbacks.

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Production Details

Marvel’s The Punisher—Official Synopsis

"Frank Castle is haunted and hunted after the murder of his family and becomes a vigilante known in the criminal underworld as “the Punisher,” who aims to fight crime by any means necessary."

Marvel’s The Punisher is scheduled to be released on Netflix sometime in 2017

It is developed by Steve Lightfoot, and stars Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Micro, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Debora Ann Woll as Karen Page, Daniel Webber as Lewis Walcott, Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, Paul Schulze as Rawlins, Jamie Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman, and Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein.