Even though season one of the Punisher featured Bernthal drinking (and complimenting) glasses of white wine instead of blasting low-level mafia goons, the powers that be immediately green-lit season two. I loved Bernthal in the role, but thought the writing and characterization left a lot to be desired. As some of you may know, I am a huge Punisher fan, so I'm probably a little hard on the series due to my fanboyism. Then again, I still firmly believe that having 50% of the show about government agents, and any % of the show about Frank Castle enjoying white wine is a bad idea.
In any event, the ratings have spoken and here comes season 2. We've already got some info on it, and although we don't know who the new villain is going to be, we do have a couple ideas. These are more educated guesses than anything, but one thing we do have on our side is that The Punisher rarely has reoccurring enemies at all, because he kills almost everyone he meets. It's kind of his thing.
The Punisher Season 2 will obviously feature Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, and Josh Stewart (The Collector, Dark Knight Rises) has been cast as John Pilgrim, who will play "a man whose calm exterior belies a ruthless interior. Despite having left behind a life of violence, circumstances will force him to use his old skills and bring him into Frank Castle’s world." As a few other outlets have speculated, this could be the Mennonite, a man who used to be a gangster hitman until he retired, found god, and is living a life of peace until his wife falls sick with a mysterious disease. The Kingpin uses this angle to recruit him back into the fold, where he promptly sets the Mennonite loose on the Punisher, with some pretty brutal results. I'd love for this to happen, since
As far as the rest of the cast is concerned, Amber Rose Revah will be back as Dinah Madani, who will presumably flirt less with Frank, now that her husband, Microchip is back. It appears they are sticking with the VA angle (which produced some compelling scenes last season) and are bringing in Floriana Lima (Supergirl) as Krista Dumont, who's described as "a smart, compassionate, and driven psychotherapist for military veterans." Giorgia Whigham (Scream, 13 Reasons Why) has been brought in to play Amy Bendix, "a street-smart grifter with a mysterious past."
Jigsaw began (finished) his transformation at the end of season one, and Ben Barnes had the following to say in a recent interview with denofgeek.com about returning as Jigsaw: "I think it's really interesting after having everything that you have made your foundations on in terms of the way that you come across to the world: his looks, the business that he's built up...that's all been literally shattered. We'll literally see it on his face. And so I think that there's great opportunity to explore what that does to his mind and what it is that he even remembers. I have no idea what kind of parameters they're going to give me to toy with it but I've certainly got lots of ideas about he could be."
On the subject of villains, Steve Lightfoot talked about his favorites from the Punisher rogue's gallery in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, and it looks like he leans towards the Garth Ennis Punisher Max series villains:
"One of the villains I love is Barracuda. I think he’s great fun. I also really like O’Brien. I thought she was always really cool. Certainly those two jump out at me initially, but there are so many great characters there. It’s a very fun sandbox to play in."
The Punisher: Season 2 will premiere in 2019.
