The Punisher: John Pilgrim is a Mirror of Frank Castle

CBR

The Punisher Season 2's Mysterious Antagonist Is 'a Mirror of Frank'

By Meagan Damore

Published Dec 29, 2018

The Punisher showrunner Steve Lightfoot teases how Season 2's villain meets Frank Castle, and how Billy Russo factors into the conflict.

The Punisher's new Season 2 villain won't be a far cry from Frank Castle himself. According to showrunner Steve Lightfoot, the mysterious John Pilgrim will be Castle's dark mirror, teasing the circumstances about the circumstances under which Castle and Pilgrim meet, and how Billy Russo factors into the conflict.

"The heart of the character, for me, is about a guy who, in a way, is a mirror of Frank, because I think he's a guy who just wanted something to believe [in]," Lightfoot said during a visit to the Neflix drama's set by CBR and other outlets. "He's a guy who has a propensity for violence -- that is within him -- and has just looked for something to belong to, that is worthy of his honor."

"So, on the one hand, he's a very honorable, loyal, trustworthy guy and you would absolutely want him on your side, but, you know, the thing he has chosen to believe in -- and if you like the people that he has chosen to believe in -- weren't necessarily the best choice," he explained. "And in many ways, to me, he is a mirror for Frank, in that, in the end, he's a guy who probably -- as Frank had in Season 1 -- put his loyalties in the wrong place, but having put his loyalties there, he's going to do everything he can to make sure they win and Frank, unfortunately, is on the other side of that."

"Beyond, in some ways, his self-questioning, you know, Frank could be the villain, and I think the interesting thing with Frank is, in a bunch of other stories or shows or villains or whatever, he may well be the villain, and that's an interesting thing to write a guy who's right on that line," he added. "I mean, for me, I just feel like the best villains are ones who don't wake up every day and think they're the villain. You know, they think they're the hero. They feel like they're utterly justified in what they're doing."

"Billy Russo feels really badly done to, like, 'Why the hell would Frank do this to me?' I think similarly with Pilgrim, he absolutely thinks he's in the right and I think that, then, makes much better villains," he shared. "I think that people just twirling their mustaches, getting up and saying, 'How evil can I be today?', it's a lot less interesting."

Arriving on Netflix in January, The Punisher Season 2 stars Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, Josh Stewart as John Pilgrim, Floriana Lima as Krista Dumont and Giorgia Whigham as Amy Bendix.