And then there were two. Netflix has done everything in its power to effectively kill off the Marvel Studios shows on its platform, canceling the critically-derided “Iron Fist,” and middlingly-received “Luke Cage” before shocking everybody by canceling “Daredevil” after a stellar third season, despite reports that it was one of the service’s most in-demand shows. Now, only two Marvel shows remain: “Jessica Jones” has managed to survive into its third season, which shot this past summer, and “The Punisher,” which has its second season slated for January and has its first trailer out.
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Starring Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, the first season of the show was decently well-received, with critics praising Bernthal’s performance, the show’s action, and its larger messages about veterans and war, but was panned for its bad pacing and writing — it also didn’t help that the series premiered amidst a flurry of gun violence, for which the show was criticized for making light of. The new season should, at the very least, avoid the sloggy start of its predecessor and jump straight into the action. Starring alongside Bernthal in the new season is Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, and Josh Stuart as John Pilgrim. Deborah Ann Woll is said to reprise her role as Karen Page from Daredevil so at least she gets one more hurrah.
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The question remains whether “Jessica Jones” or “The Punisher” will stick around after their upcoming seasons, but if the trend of “Daredevil” is any indication, the shows will most likely get canned regardless of their critical or audience reception, and probably a few short weeks after they air.. Plus, as the contract between Marvel and Netflix stipulates, none of the shows can appear on any other service (aka Disney’s Netflix competitor Disney+) for two years after cancellation, so don’t expect for the shows or characters to resurface again for some time.
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Season two of “The Punisher” arrives on Netflix on January 18. You can watch the trailer below. Here’s the season two synopsis:
Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) can run but he can’t hide from who he’s meant to be. Season two finds Frank in all too familiar territory. With Castle’s former brother-in-arms Billy Russo (Ben Barnes) slowly beginning to heal from the traumatic brain injury Frank inflicted on him, it’s only a matter of time before Billy starts to put the pieces of the puzzle back together.