Enough revenge: it’s time for war
Being a Marvel show on Netflix these days makes you an endangered species. After the cancellations of everything from Luke Cage to Daredevil, the question is: will The Punisher be next?
That’s hard to answer since Netflix rarely explains why it cancels or greenlights anything. But Season 2 of The Punisher gives hope that we’ll see a third season yet. It’s grim, determined and strikes new ground. For a guy with a tonne of emotional baggage, the Punisher isn’t slowing down much…
Season 1 ended with Frank Castle finally avenging the deaths of his family, almost killing his former friend Billy Russo. Almost, because Russo is back – this time transformed into the villain Jigsaw, a physically mangled and mentally insane specimen that is going to make Frank’s life difficult.
The world has different plans
Now Frank is on the road, looking for some peace. But then he saves a young woman from a gang of thugs, and accidentally gets involved with a murderous religious sect that really doesn’t believe in turning the other cheek. Well, unfortunately for them neither does Frank. They wanted a fight, but the Punisher brings war.
The Punisher in all its glory
Season 2 isn’t flawless. It suffers from the hamfisted storytelling that made the other Marvel shows sloppier than they could have been. There is also not nearly enough of Frank himself in this.
But on the other hand this is The Punisher in all its glory: no longer a man seeking vengeance but the arrival of the cold-blooded vigilante that disposes of bad guys with extreme prejudice.
It’s intense, violent and just a little bit unhinged.
What sets The Punisher apart from the other Marvel shows? None of them managed to make a strong case for life after their origin story. But Season 2 of The Punisher shows how all that stuff was holding Frank back. Now he’s meaner, nastier and far more dangerous than before, facing off against equally intimidating bad guys.
Will The Punisher be the next on the cancellation pile? We hope not. Frank’s only just found his stride and the piles of bodies are not nearly high enough yet. Si vis pacem, para bellum – if you want peace, prepare for war.