The Punisher Season 2 Character Descriptions Offer Story Hints

Character descriptions for season 2 of The Punisher may tease a very dark story for Frank Castle. Netflix and Marvel found success once again with The Punisher, but this time it was outside of their original plan. After fans reacted so positively to Jon Bernthal’s performance as the anti-hero, the Punisher, in Daredevil season 2, Netflix ordered a spinoff series that debuted late last year. Originally intended for a surprise launch after New York Comic-Con, the series – that heavily revolves around gun control – was pushed in light of the mass shooting in Las Vegas.


Once The Punisher did hit the streaming service, the results were as positive as all parties could’ve hoped for. Netflix didn’t waste much time in renewing The Punisher season 2. The series’ second season is slated to stay in New York, and production is expected to start sometime in 2018. While it is still early in the development process, hints at season two’s story may now be available.


That Hashtag Show has revealed new details about The Punisher‘s second season thanks to a series of new character descriptions. According to the breakdowns, The Punisher is looking to cast the roles of Annie Beir, Kim Davis, and Melvin Skelling. These names are likely not the official names and rather used just for the purposes of auditions, however. Annie is a 16 year old described as “someone who is used to the streets and is both scrappy and aware of her environment.” Kim is a mid-30s female series regular therapist, and open to any ethnicity. Melvin is an early-30s honest detective, once again open to any ethnicity. Based on these descriptions, That Hashtag Show theorizes season 2 could be an adaption of The Slavers comic storyline.


While the story speculation isn’t confirmed, the additional characters show that Punisher will be expanding its cast for season 2. The series still has several important characters from the first season around, and it even set up Ben Barnes’ Billy Russo fully becoming Jigsaw. They likely could’ve pulled a story together out of their existing pieces, but the potential adaption of this storyline could take Frank and his series further into a dark world.


Garth Ennis’ The Slavers storyline sees Frank save the life of a young girl and, in doing so, leads him to discover a prostitution ring in New York run by Vera Konstantin and Cristu Bulat – a Romanian power couple. Annie’s description matches up with the young girl (Viorica) that Frank saves in the story, while Kim could be the show’s take on social worker Jen Cooke, who Frank works with to learn more about the ring. Melvin, on the other hand, is not part of this comic arc and is rather believed to be a stand-in name for Detective Martin Soap.


After dealing with gun violence, PTSD, vigilantism, and more in season one, Punisher taking on sex slaves and trafficking could be the next important issue for the series to tackle. Frank has already expressed his feelings on the matter in Daredevil season 2 when a pawn shop owner offered him pornography of young girls. The show insinuated a massive beatdown was in the owner’s immediate future, so season 2 could build on that thread to show Frank become a hero to many more people. That is, if this is the story season 2 will tell.