‘The Punisher’ Season 2 Review Roundup

The second season of Marvel’s The Punisher will hit Netflix one week today and earlier today, reviews from critics that had early access to the show began to surface online.

In short, the reviews seem generally positive. While many reviewers applauded showrunner Steven Lightfoot and company for fully embracing Frank Castle’s (Jon Bernthal) comic-accurate background, a major critique of the season seemed to be the pacing — certainly a common critique of these shows.

ComicBook.com’s Kofi Outlaw says that while the plot seems barer than the show’s first season, the second season ends up more action-packed than its previous-year counterpart.

“Indeed, a more concentrated focus allows The Punisher Season Two to do more with less, and fans will surely appreciate the difference,” Outlaw’s review reads. “The cast digs in and utilizes their increased screen time and larger arcs, with Bernthal, Revah, Barnes, and Lima all stepping up to the challenge of some deep character work. The theme of the season is “identity,” and each of the main actors effectively convey it in their respective character’s struggle to first maintain an illusion of self, and then suffer the hard hit of reality about who they really are.”

“Bernthal’s performance is especially nuanced and layered in this way, making his eventual full embrace of the Punisher mantle all the more fulfilling.”

The Punisher Season Two hits Netflix on January 18th. If its anything like previous Marvel shows, expect the series to uploaded to the streaming giant at 12:00am Pacific time.

Inverse – Eric Francisco

“While The Punisher behaves an awful lot like previous Marvel/Netflix shows — strong beginning, ho-hum middle, solid to excellent climax, plus an inexplicable Friends problem in that average salaries can afford really nice New York apartments — the series is anchored by two powerful central performers who will be the sole reason you click “Play Next Episode.” Bernthal, proving again he was born to play Frank Castle, turns in yet another hypnotizing performance, perfectly teetering between Laid Back Marine and Guy Who’s Seen Some Shit.”

Read the full review here.

IGN – Jesse Schedeen

“The end result of all this is a fairly slow start to the new season, but that’s pretty much par for the course. Like nearly every Netflix/Marvel joint, The Punisher Season 1 was at least three episodes longer than it needed to be. I’ll be surprised if the same isn’t true for Season 2. Like Frank himself, the series is currently adrift and seeking its purpose.”

Read the full review here.

Den of Geek – Tyler McCarthy

“Speaking of high-concept baddies, The Punisher Season 2 makes up for the first season’s complete lack of a real comic-book level villain by pitting Frank against two big bads. On one side, is John Pilgrim, played by Josh Stewart. A devout Christian who seems to be taking his marching orders from an evangelical clergy that takes “going biblical” to new heights, John may come off like a small-town bumpkin at first, but as time goes on you learn that he’s every bit a match for Castle, with his own dog in this fight.”

Read the full review here.

Forbes – Merrill Barr

“This season of Punisher is a perfect example of what happens when you pay true honor to the source material you’re adapting. While there are season one threads that certainly bleed into this one, none of them are done so in a way so as to say “this is a continuation of the last story.” No, season two is a whole new Frank Castle adventure and all the better for it.”

Read the full review here.

Collider – Haleigh Foutch

“There’s no denying that the action scenes are some of the best you’ll see on TV this year or any other; remarkable feats of choreography, effects, shot composition, and performance all provide more kinetic thrills than most blockbuster film franchises. Fans who found last season too slow and focused on Frank’s internal war will be thrilled to see that this season is full-tilt punishing. Sometimes, the series’ set-pieces feel like a gallery: This is how Frank punishes in a bar. This is how he punishes in a gym. Each new setting unfolds creative opportunities for the choreographers to showcase what a beast Frank is.”

Read the full review here.

io9 – Charles Pulliam-Moore

“While Billy, with several new facial scars, struggles to recover from amnesia following his last confrontation with the Punisher, Castle’s a ghost by his own choosing, floating through life under a fake name and trying to keep as low a profile as he can. But this season of The Punisher is built on the idea of Castle doing the more classical heroic thing rather than going with the sort of logic we’ve seen him rely upon in the past.”

Read the full review here.

Gamespot – Michael Roegeau

“On what could be its last time around the Netflix merry-go-round, Punisher Season 2 presents a mess of morals, motivations, and messages. Its portrayal of veterans as mainly degenerate dickheads looking for any excuse to do violent crimes remains problematic. Billy has selective amnesia, and remembers being best friends with Frank, but not why Frank now wants to kill him, which is just boring and never really pays off in the way you want it to.”

Read the full review here.

GamesRadar – Alex Avard

“In almost every regard, in fact, save some hard to miss dud notes, The Punisher season 2 is a worthy follow up to its predecessor as a blood strewn action thriller that fires on all fronts.”

Read the full review here.

TV Guide – Kaitlin Thomas

“Regrettably but predictably, the 13-episode second season, which picks up a year after Frank smushed Billy Russo’s (Ben Barnes) pretty face into a mirror and cut it to pieces after learning his former friend and brother in arms was responsible for the deaths of his wife and two children, suffers from the exact same problems that have plagued nearly all of Netflix’s original programming: It’s too long and doesn’t have enough story to adequately fill 13 hours of television. The many pieces of the puzzle also don’t start coming together until far too late in the game as a result, and by that point, it’s rather hard to care.”

Read the full review here.