‘The Punisher’ Season 2 Villain Is an Alt-Right Christian Fundamentalist

The first season of The Punisher saw the Marvel vigilante going up against a corrupt CIA operative and a former ally who conspired to kill his family. But the latest villain in the Netflix series will be slightly more topical.

In a new report from Collider, we finally learned more about Frank Castle’s latest foe for The Punisher Season 2, a character named John Pilgrim played by actor Josh Stewart. The villain has been described as Alt-Right, a term that’s associated with white nationalism and extreme conservatives.

“On the exterior, [John Pilgrim] is a man who is a Christian Fundamentalist who had a rage, a violent side of him,” Stewart said. “It’s buried deep. I think where this is all headed, that sort of side of him is going to resurface a bit.”

Pilgrim is said to contrast Billy Russo, who will also return for Season 2, as a creepier and more uptight foe for Frank Castle.

While Russo will be appearing in the new season, he won’t be going under the name of Jigsaw. Instead, that term will apply to the character’s fragmented psyche after the events of the first season.

“He’s trying to piece together what happened to him and who he is. There is the metaphor at one point that his brain is the jigsaw that he’s trying put the pieces back together of,” actor Ben Barnes said to Collider.

As for the man himself, Frank Castle won’t be doing some Punishing from the get go. It will take the actions of John Pilgrim and his allies to draw the violent side of Frank Castle out into the open. But when Castle does put on that skull-adorned vest, it will be an epic moment.

“This year, when he puts it on, we figured out a very intelligent, very tactical reason, a very psychologically tactical reason to wear it. It makes a lot of sense,” said Frank Castle actor Jon Bernthal.

They’re working hard to top the events of Season 1, which almost had an anti-climactic scene of The Punisher finally adopting the skull on his chest.

“There was going to be a whole scene with Micro where they’re at the computer figuring [the suit] out,” Bernthal said. “That was going to be the first time with him in the vest. [Micro] was just gonna’ sort of be drinking tea and I’m like, ‘You can’t do that. It’s gonna’ look so friggin’ stupid.’”

We’ll get to see how it all pans out when The Punisher debuts on Netflix sometime in January 2019.