The Punisher season 3: Everything you need to know
It's been a tough ol' time of late for fans of Marvel's various Netflix series: Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Daredevil have all bitten the dust, sparking speculation that Jessica Jones and The Punisher might be next.
Netflix dropped the axe on Daredevil a mere six weeks after the show's third season had launched on the service. With season two of The Punisher premiering on January 18, 2019, we can expect an update on a potential third run sooner rather than later.
But will it be good or bad news? Here's everything we know so far.
The Punisher season 3 cast: Who might return?
Bar a shock recasting, Jon Bernthal would of course be involved in any third season of The Punisher as Frank Castle.
From the main cast, we'd also expect to see Amber Rose Revah back as (now CIA agent) Dinah Madani, as well as Jason R Moore as Frank's close ally Curtis 'Curt' Hoyle.
Other potential returnees include Josh Stewart as John Pilgrim, Giorgia Whigham as Amy Bendix and even Floriana Lima as Krista Dumont, who was left paralysed but alive following a brutal bout with Madani in season two.
There's even an outside chance that Ebon Moss-Bachrach could reprise his role as Frank's tech guy David Lieberman / Micro, with Jaime Ray Newman returning as his wife Sarah Lieberman, after the pair sat out the second season.
With Frank executing his friend-turned-nemesis Billy Russo / Jigsaw, we've probably seen the last of Ben Barnes, though.
The Punisher season 3: Will Daredevil appear?
With Bernthal's Frank Castle making his screen debut in Daredevil's second season, fans are keen to see Charlie Cox return the favour and pop up in The Punisher as Matt Murdock and/or his vigilante alter-ego.
Could it happen? Quite possibly. "Obviously Daredevil and Punisher have a lot of history and story between them in the comic books. So it would be great to dig into some of that," showrunner Steve Lightfoot told Heroic Hollywood.
"Also villains like the Kingpin (Vincent D'onofrio) who was featured in quite a lot of the Punisher books as well. So it would be fantastic to get some of those guys back into the show if we can make it work."
Deborah Ann Woll also featured in both seasons of The Punisher (to a greater or lesser extent) as Daredevil's Karen Page, so might well cross over a third time, too.
The Punisher season 3 episode 1: What will happen next?
The second season of The Punisher closed with Russo, as well as corrupt business tycoons Anderson and Eliza Schultz, six feet under.
Castle, hitman Pilgrim and street-smart grifter Amy all decided to go their separate ways, while Russo's psychotherapist and lover Dumont was revealed to have survived her fall (just).
There then followed a three month time-jump – Madani, now working for the CIA, offers to recruit Castle as a gun-for-hire, but he refuses, opting instead to continue his war against crime on his own terms.
"The end of season two, that final image was meant to say, very much, 'Look, Frank is now The Punisher'," explained Lightfoot. "And hopefully people were like, 'I can't wait for season three, you know, come back and see what the hell he's up to'.
"I've got a really good idea about what would be next. I've got a very good idea about what season three is, I've got an idea for it I'm really excited about, which Marvel know about and they're also excited about."
The Punisher season 3 renewal: Has it been cancelled?
But in the wake of its Marvel sister series being axed by Netflix, what are the actual odds of The Punisher getting a reprieve?
Unofficial stats have season two's viewing figures down on Frank's first outing, but Lightfoot has maintained he's "living optimistically that we'll get to go again".
"I would love to make 10 seasons," he said, while Marvel TV's Jeph Loeb added: "That's not our decision to make... It's ultimately going to be Netflix's call, as it is with every show. We are beholden to the network and it's the network who decides whether or not we're going to do it."
For his part, Jon Bernthal has been more reserved, saying he's "at peace" with the idea of The Punisher's possible cancellation.
"I know the reality of the situation and I'm at peace with it – I really only worry about the things I can control," the actor said. "When I'm playing the character and I'm doing the job and it's right there in front of me, I do whatever I can to make it as good as I can. But in this business there's so much we can't control.
"Whatever is happening with these shows, these decisions are being made in rooms I'm not invited into and I'm okay with that."
More news as we get it.
The Punisher season 3 trailer: Is there any footage?
Not yet, what with the show's fate still lingering in limbo and all.
The first teaser for season two dropped roughly a month before the new episodes launched on Netflix, though, so we'd expect a similar approach if/when the third season happens.
The Punisher season 3 release date: When is out on Netflix?
Again, with no third season greenlit, we're a way off getting a launch date (if it happens at all).
There was a break of a little over a year between the first and second seasons, though, so an educated guess would have a third outing landing in early-to-mid 2020, providing Netflix renews the show relatively soon.
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