I think it’s safe to say that everyone was pretty happy when Netflix gave the green-light for a second second season of Daredevil so soon after the first debuted on the web streaming service. Not only has the show proven to be extremely popular among comic book fans and Daredevil aficionados, but the series has also earned critical acclaim for its performances, writing, dark tone and wonderfully choreographed action sequences. With the release of the first official trailer for Season 2, the series looks like it’s raising the stakes and upping the body-count with the introduction of Marvel’s most violent vigilante.
Picking up after the events of the first season, Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) is finally bringing order back to Hell’s Kitchen. Though content that Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) has been incarcerated, Daredevil fears that his actions have inspired another, more violent vigilante. Seeking vengeance for the murder of his family, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) aims to clean up New York City by any means necessary, no matter how lethal the results. Calling himself “The Punisher,” Castle wages a one-man war against organized crime, and in-turn, puts himself in direct conflict with the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
“Welcome back, Frank.”
Daredevil’s name may appear at the end of the teaser, but this trailer is firmly focused on Bernthal’s very disturbed take on the Punisher. Describing Bernthal as looking “intense” would be a total understatement, and based on his incredibly unsettling thousand-yard stare, it looks like we’ll finally be getting that psychotic, borderline-dissociative Punisher that we’ve always wanted.
What I also like about the trailer is how it seems to borrowing the theme of “escalation” from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. As Nolan’s film obviously illustrated, there was a very violent reaction to Batman’s actions when he became the vigilante protector of Gotham City. That reaction came in the form of The Joker, and as many of us know, Batman’s encounters with the Clown Prince of Crime nearly pushed him to his breaking point. While Castle will obviously in no way be like Heath Ledger’s Joker in terms of personality or goals, he is being framed as the angry, violent byproduct of Murdock’s actions in the first season.
Outside of Bernthal looking completely terrifying and the morbidly dark themes, we get a few glimpses of where we might find the rest of Dardevil’s supporting cast. Along with a brief hint of the budding romance between Matt and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung) also makes a quick little cameo at the end of the trailer. Though her appearance is painfully short, will hopefully learn more about Murdock’s longtime enemy and lover when the promised second trailer for Daredevil Season 2 will be released next week.
Season 2 of Daredevil will premiere exclusively on Netflix on March 18, 2016.
What about you reader? Did you like the first full-length trailer for Daredevil Season 2? Like what you see of Jon Bernthal’s Punisher? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to check in next week when we post the second trailer!
