THE PUNISHER
SEASON 2

A RENEWAL WEEKS AFTER SEASON 1

HOW THE SECOND SEASON WAS MADE

Netflix ordered a second season in December 2017, less than a month after the first season’s release. Filming had begun by 10 March 2018 in the New York area, with shooting in Albany in mid-July and production concluding in August 2018. All 13 episodes arrived together on 18 January 2019.

A TEENAGER, A THERAPIST AND A SCARRED FACE

WHAT THE SEASON IS ABOUT

The season follows Frank Castle as he saves a teenage drifter and decides whether to embrace the Punisher mantle, while Billy Russo survives his injuries and is treated by therapist Krista Dumont. Russo resembles the comics character Jigsaw, though the season never uses the name. Lightfoot said on 18 January 2019 that the writers always knew the season would be “about the repercussions of Frank leaving him alive.”

On the show’s violence, Lightfoot said on 28 December 2018 that “you can’t tell the story of the Punisher without the use of violence,” and added:

“I never want the violence to be familiar or fun.”

Steve Lightfoot, 28 December 2018

BERNTHAL, BARNES AND A NEW ARRIVAL

WHO IS IN THE CAST

Jon Bernthal plays Frank Castle, with Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Josh Stewart as John Pilgrim, Giorgia Whigham as Amy Bendix, Floriana Lima as Krista Dumont and Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, with Deborah Ann Woll returning as a guest.

ACTION-PACKED AND UNEVEN

WHAT CRITICS SAID

GamesRadar’s review was headlined “A blood strewn action thriller that fires on all fronts.” Rotten Tomatoes lists a 61% critics’ score from 38 reviews and a 70% audience score, and its consensus says the season “leaves fans torn between the undeniably action-packed fun and the underwhelming portrayal.” Metacritic gives it 58 from six critics. Parrot Analytics ranked it the most wanted streaming original series in the US for the week of 27 January to 2 February 2019, and the series and Bernthal both received Saturn Award nominations.

THE REWATCH

A CANCELLATION AND THE END OF THE NETFLIX SERIES

Netflix announced on 18 February 2019 that “Marvel’s The Punisher will not return for a third season on Netflix,” praising Lightfoot and Bernthal. The same announcement ended Jessica Jones after its upcoming third season, and Marvel Television’s Jeph Loeb told fans: “you know Marvel better than that.”

In the Marvel Marathon it is catalogued as Marvel Television and sits in the Marvel TV shows in order guide between Runaways Season 2 and Cloak & Dagger Season 2, and in the MCU timeline guide between Thor: Ragnarok and Jessica Jones Season 3. It is not in the MCU release-order, series or movie guides.