The Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been only tangentially related to the movies, though there have been oblique references to the major events of the MCU in order to remind us that “it’s all connected.” For instance, all those mentions of “The Incident” – aka the Battle of New York in The Avengers – and some discussion of the Sokovia Accords in Jessica Jones season 2.
Because it’s such a thorny issue, though, none of the Defenders-verse shows have referenced the events of Avengers: Infinity War as yet. Daredevil season 3, for example, didn’t pull an Ant-Man and the Wasp and end with Matt Murdock and his pals turning to dust. And thank God it didn’t, otherwise that would’ve made its subsequent cancellation unbearable.
Anyways, we can now confirm that the same can be said of The Punisher season 2, which arrives on Netflix in the new year. In a report on what they learned from a set visit, Collider wrote that: “Characters in The Punisher will not be discussing The Snap from Avengers: Infinity War.” We can safely assume, then, that the season takes place in a similar part of the timeline to the other recent Marvel-Netflix series, which were revealed to be set prior to Thanos’ apocalyptic finger snap.
This shouldn’t come as a great surprise. Of all the Defenders shows, we’d expect The Punisher to be the last one to reference the epic cosmic ramifications of IW, as it’s arguably the most grounded entry in the MCU and a name-check or nod that reminded us that Frank Castle exists in the same world as, say, Rocket Raccoon might take us out of the drama.
Season 2 will crossover with Daredevil once again, though, as Deborah Ann Woll’s due to reprise her role as Karen Page – probably for the last time. Speaking of which, make sure to catch The Punisher when he returns in January, as it’ll probably be the last we see of Frank Castle as well.
