Frank’s back.
Despite the purge of Marvel’s standalone Netflix shows – Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist have all gotten the official chop in recent weeks – there is much excitement at the forthcoming return of The Punisher.
Season one had enough plus points to leave us wanting more brutal vigilante action, even if the future of both this show and Jessica Jones remains generally unclear.
As for what to expect from The Punisher’s second season? A visit to the set from the team at Collider has served up quite a lot of information.
Spoilers for what’s coming below, so turn back now if you don’t wish to know…
Here are the most eye-opening takeaways:
- The events of Avengers: Infinity War will not play into the storyline.
- Billy Russo is in recovery and his face is messed up, but don’t expect to hear him called by his more familiar comic book name just yet.
- Karen Page is back.
- The theme of the season is “Frank really adopting the mantle of The Punisher”.
- The villain is an alt-right Christian fundamentalist.
Let’s focus on that last one, shall we?
As noted, Frank’s old buddy turned enemy Billy Russo hasn’t fully embraced the whole Jigsaw thing yet, so he’ll contend with a different big bad – a man by the name of John Pilgrim.
Pilgrim is played by Josh Stewart, who has popped up in the likes of The Dark Knight Rises, The Collector and Interstellar as well as the TV adaptation of Shooter.
That’s him there in the conclusion of the Nolan Batman trilogy as one of Bane’s heavies.
Season two of The Punisher will see the actor come into his own as a villain, one that sounds quite informed by present day.
“On the exterior, he’s a man who is a Christian fundamentalist who had a rage, a violent side of him,” Stewart told Collider.
“It’s buried deep. I think this is where it’s all headed, that sort of side of him is going to resurface a bit.”
Costume designer Lorraine Calvert went on to describe the character as “alt-right” while a teased scene of Pilgrim in action confirms the character’s “uptight, creeping vibe”.
Definitely sounds like the kind of guy that will meet a horrifically fierce end via everyone’s favourite skull-sporting anti-hero.
Still no confirmed release date but the expectation is that Frank Castle returns to Netflix in January.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
