If the latest preview of the second season of Daredevil is any indication of what to expect when the show returns, The Punisher will be more than a supporting character in the next major story arc of the hit series.
Netflix has released the first full-length trailer for Season Two of Daredevil, and the preview spends nearly as much time on Frank Castle’s path to becoming the gun-toting vigilante known as The Punisher as it does on Matt Murdock’s evolution. In fact, the new trailer makes it seem as if The Punisher could be Daredevil’s primary antagonist — along with his personal demons, of course — in the series’ second season.
Season Two of Daredevil casts The Walking Dead actor Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, one of Marvel Comics’ most popular and controversial heroes due to his affinity for bringing criminals’ careers to a bloody (and permanent) end.
In Marvel’s comic-book universe, Castle is a former special forces operative whose wife and child were killed by mobsters after they accidentally witnessed a gangland execution. The experience turns Castle into a one-man war against crime, resulting in the death of countless mobsters and criminals of all kind — including more than a few with superpowers — over the course of his comic-book history. His methods have often put him at odds with Marvel’s costumed heroes, particularly New York City residents Spider-Man and Daredevil.
The second season of Daredevil will feature the return of series star Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, a blind attorney gifted with superhuman senses who fights crime in the courtroom by day and in the streets at night. Also returning for Season Two are Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Scott Glenn as Stick, and Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple. Fans of Marvel’s rapidly expanding television universe will recall that Dawson also appeared in the recent Jessica Jones series.
Along with introducing Bernthal as the gun-toting vigilante The Punisher, the second season of Daredevil will also feature the debut of G.I. Joe: Retaliation actress Elodie Yung as the deadly assassin Elektra Natchios, a former love interest of Murdock who harbors a dangerous secret. Yung can be seen in the closing moments of the new trailer. Bernthal’s character is already rumored to have his own Netflix series in the works, spinning out of the events of the upcoming season and focusing on The Punisher’s one-man war on crime.
The second season of Daredevil premieres March 18 on Netflix.
