Netflix recently released a second teaser trailer for The Punisher Season 2 which offered fans a glimpse of Frank Castle’s (Jon Bernthal) return, along with the arrival of his enemy who is none other than the titular hero’s friend-turned-enemy Billy Russo. Notably, the first season saw Frank’s confrontation with Russo, which left the later scarred.
During a roundtable interview with Collider conducted late last month, actor Ben Barnes, who will reprise the role of the villainous Billy Russo in The Punisher Season 2, offered some details about Billy’s back-story.
“Billy’s trauma very early on in life, with his abandonment by his mother and narcissism a history of abuse as a child, has framed who he was,” said Barnes.
He went on to tease what fans can expect from his character in the new season.
“The second season, we’re toying with his memory,” The Punisher actor said. “He sees himself slightly differently. As we go through the series, what’s fascinating to me is seeing now just how different they are, but how similar they are, given other sets of circumstances. As we get toward the end of the season, people are starting to point out just how similar they could be under different circumstances. Because it’s about people’s perspectives of things.”
Barnes explained that Billy is playing a deeply narcissistic character in the upcoming season that has created his own jigsaw puzzle in the brain and is trying hard to put the pieces back together.
“We don’t refer to the character, in the series, as Jigsaw,” the actor said. “But he very much has a jigsaw puzzle in his brain. It’s not necessarily about his face, it’s about the psychological, which is how they try and approach everything. Particularly this season, even more than last season. It’s about what’s in his head.”
He also revealed about his character’s therapist Krista, played by Supergirl’s Floriana Lima.
“Krista is Billy’s psychotherapist,” Barnes said. “She’s worked with veterans before, she’s dealt with PTSD. She comes in the second episode, we see her with Billy, who she’s been working with for months. She’s been coaching him through all the things that Ben just mentioned, all of his putting together of puzzles. She has specific techniques and some insights into how to pull out everything he is struggling with.”
The Punisher Season 2 will premiere on Netflix on Friday, January 18.
