Gun-toting antihero Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, made a blood-spattered splash into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the first season of his live-action series on Netflix and earned himself a second-season renewal less than a month after the premiere of his first solo story arc. Scheduled to premiere this month, season 2 of The Punisher now has a new, full-length, blood-spattered trailer heralding Frank’s return.
With Jon Bernthal returning as the titular former Marine who becomes a one-man army against crime, the second season of The Punisher is also expected to feature more of Ebon Moss-Bachrach as ex-National Security Agency agent Micro, as well as Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, who also appeared in the now-canceled Daredevil series on Netflix. Season 1 cast members Ben Barnes, Amber Rose Revah, and Jason R. Moore are also expected to return, with Barnes featured prominently in some of the promotional footage.
Here’s everything we know about The Punisher season 2 so far.
First look
Netflix released a new trailer for The Punisher season 2 (see above) a day before the season premiere, and it teased an impending showdown between Frank Castle (Bernthal) and Billy Russo (Barnes), who now goes by the nickname “Jigsaw.”
The second season of The Punisher got its first full-length trailer on January 10, just over a week before the season premieres on Netflix.
The trailer offered a preview of Frank Castle’s return to action, which clearly involves all of the brutal violence fans have come to expect from the Marvel Comics vigilante. The video also provides a peek at some of the new and returning characters playing key roles in the second season.
On January 3, Marvel Entertainment’s official Twitter account released the first teaser trailer for the show’s second season. It features Bernthal as Castle and Barnes as the now-scarred villain, Billy Russo, who returns with a vendetta against the titular vigilante. The brief preview offers the first look at Billy since he was last seen covered in bandages at the end of season 1, and shows why the character takes on the name “Jigsaw” in Marvel Comics continuity.
Let Frank be who he's meant to be. "Marvel's @ThePunisher" Season 2 debuts January 18 on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/npndnL3IAQ
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) January 3, 2019
A few days earlier, the official Twitter account for the series kicked off the new year by posting a brief teaser for season 2 of The Punisher.
Back to work. pic.twitter.com/egCCC2qX3y
— The Punisher (@ThePunisher) January 1, 2019
The footage shows Castle lighting the presidential pardon he received at the end of the first season on fire, likely in a symbolic return to the criminal-killing ways that got him on the government’s wrong side in past adventures.
Premiere date confirmed
The premiere date for season 2 of The Punisher was officially confirmed by Marvel Entertainment in a January 3 update on Twitter, which indicated that The Punisher will return for more adventures January 18 on Netflix.
The announcement confirms an initial, unplanned announcement of the premiere date by the Twitter account for Netflix in the Middle East and North Africa.
As reported by ComicBook.com, the account posted a list of upcoming release dates for Netflix original content in January, and season 2 of The Punisher was assigned a January 18 debut on the streaming service. The list was subsequently deleted from the Twitter account.
As part of its monthly list of titles coming to Netflix in the U.S. and leaving in January, the streaming service previously slipped in a “Coming Soon” designation for season 2 of The Punisher among its projects for the month. Netflix also included a brief scene from the new season at the tail end of its monthly video teasing upcoming projects.
Bernthal can be seen getting into his truck around the 1:57 mark in the video.
Final act?
To the disappointment of fans, Netflix began canceling each of its Marvel collaborations in late 2018, ending the run of Iron Fist initially, then Luke Cage, and then — in a decision few saw coming — it canceled the show that kicked off the partnership, Daredevil. The cancellations left The Punisher and Jessica Jones as the only remaining Netflix-Marvel series to avoid the ax.
With the second season of Punisher and the third season of Jessica Jones already shot, it’s widely believed that season 2 of The Punisher will be the final story arc for this particular incarnation of the character, and Netflix will cancel the series after the second season premieres.
That’s a wrap
Filming on the second season concluded in August 2018, with actor Jason R. Moore — who plays Curtis Hoyle in the series — posting a photo on Instagram to commemorate the occasion.
A new power couple
High-profile casting announcements for the show’s second season were made in May, with Academy Award nominee Annette O’Toole (Halt and Catch Fire, A Mighty Wind) and two-time Golden Globe nominee Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law, American Gods) joining the series in season 2.
Bernsen (pictured above) will portray Anderson Schultz, a character described as “an extremely wealthy man who’s grown accustomed to getting his way. His power and legacy are of prime importance, and he’ll implement less-than-legal means to further those ends.”
As for O’Toole, she’ll play Eliza Schultz, the wife of Bernsen’s character, who’s described as “a conniving, wealthy woman, cut from the same manipulative cloth as her husband, Anderson.”
Given the official descriptions of their characters, it would seem as if the couple might find themselves on the wrong side of Castle’s war against crime — which is never a good place to be.
No stranger to popular series based on comic book characters, O’Toole portrayed Martha Kent — the adoptive mother of Clark Kent (you know, Superman) — for 10 seasons of the long-running series Smallville.
Return confirmed
Back in December 2017 — less than a month after the Netflix debut of The Punisher season 1 — we received official confirmation that the series will be getting a second season.
The news was broken on social media by the official Twitter and Facebook accounts for The Punisher.
Time to reload. #ThePunisher Season 2 is coming. pic.twitter.com/J76ksLfDqx
— The Punisher (@ThePunisher) December 12, 2017
As with these early teases, little was revealed other than the fact that season two was confirmed. The animated teaser provides zero clues as to where we might see the next arc take the character.
Three new additions
On February 26, Marvel officially announced three new additions to the cast of The Punisher for season 2. Firstly, Josh Stewart (Insidious: The Last Key) will play John Pilgrim, “a man whose calm exterior belies a ruthless interior.” Pilgrim isn’t a character in the comics, so we don’t really know what to expect from him.
Floriana Lima (Supergirl) also signed on; she’ll portray Krista Dumont, “a smart, compassionate, and driven psychotherapist for military veterans.” Finally, Giorgia Whigham (the Scream TV series) will take on the role of Amy Bendix, “a street-smart grifter with a mysterious past.” Bendix is the only character among the three to appear in Marvel comics, though, as the daughter of Sheriff Harry Bendix.
Punisher and Co.
The series stars Bernthal as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, a former U.S. Marine who violently dispatches his enemies and criminals with tactical precision. The character originally debuted in season 2 of Daredevil, where audiences were first introduced to Castle’s vigilante quest aimed at avenging the deaths of his family members. The first season of his own series saw the antihero uncovering a bigger, much more sinister conspiracy that reached deep into the dark underbelly of the United States government and military.
The series’ inaugural season also starred Moss-Bachrach and Woll, with the latter character linking The Punisher to the rest of Netflix’s little corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Punisher’s first 13-episode season garnered generally favorable reviews. Our own review praised the show as one of the most successful of Netflix’s comic book adaptations.
Updated on January 17, 2019: Added a new trailer for season 2.
