At the end of The Punisher’s first season, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) got a new lease on life after tangling with a group of corrupt military officials who covered up war crimes in Afghanistan. But as we saw in the first teaser for season 2, that clean slate he earned is short-lived. The first full trailer for the second season shows Castle being pulled out of retirement and into another bloody vigilante battle.
Castle is brought back into action when he helps a young woman, Amy Bendix (played by Giorgia Whigham), who is attacked in a bar. “What was I supposed to do?” Castle asks her. “I had to get involved.” That fight kicks off what looks to be a bloody season for the Punisher. The incident puts Castle and Bendix in the crosshairs of a classic Marvel comics villain named Jigsaw, the alter ego of Billy Russo, who went up against Castle in the finale of the first season.
This new season comes at an awkward time for Netflix and Marvel’s superhero franchise. The streaming service recently axed three of its big shows, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Daredevil, leaving only Jessica Jones and The Punisher standing — both of which were already deep in production when the other series were canceled. It seems inevitable that the upcoming seasons of The Punisher and Jessica Jones will be the last ones for Netflix, although Marvel has strongly hinted that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the characters. The cancellations come as Disney is beginning to ramp up its own streaming service, Disney+, which is prepping its own slate of Marvel shows, including ones about Loki, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon and Winter Soldier.
The Punisher’s second season begins streaming on Netflix on January 18th.