The Punisher Season 2 Trailer Reveals Official Premiere Date

He isn't the one who dies, he's the one that does the killing — and he'll be back in your life faster than you can say "mercy."

After releasing a tiny teaser at the top of 2019 that hinted Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle would soon knock back bourbon and raise a whole lot of hell on the second season of Marvel's The Punisher, Netflix unveiled an official trailer announcing when the series will return. 

Shared to the streamer's YouTube account on Thursday morning, the footage reveals that The Punisher season 2 will hit Netflix on Friday, January 18. 

That date has bounced around the rumor mill ever since am international Netflix social media account accidentally shared the streamer's content release calendar for January. Realizing its mistake after spilling the beans, the Middle East and North Africa Netflix account quickly deleted the post that announced The Punisher would air its second season on January 18 — but by then, it was too late. Many outlets (like ScreenRant) had already captured screenshots of the tweet.

Given this new footage is an announcement trailer, it makes sense that the release date is the main focus and that it doesn't offer a great deal in terms of concrete information on the forthcoming episodes. Still, there is some substance to the trailer outside the debut date confirmation. 

The trailer features Bernthal's Frank and Ben Barnes' Billy Russo spitting out harrowing lines of dialogue over footage of themselves looking distraught in more ways than one. 

"Someone told me once life is just trying not to be lonely," Frank says. 

"It's like a bomb went off inside my mind, scattering all the pieces," Billy, Frank's former best friend who was involved in the murder of his family and who (kind of) becomes the villain Jigsaw in season 2, adds as he unravels bandages from his head. 

"Every time I try to put the pieces together, something won't fit," Frank chimes in. 

Billy then states, "There's something on the edges — someone — like a dark shadow waiting for me. This face has everything that I ever did wrong written all over it," as he screams and clutches his face, now adorned with a creepy mask. 

The trailer then shifts back to Frank, who sports a shirt with his Punisher insignia splayed on the front and holds an enormous gun in his hand. 

"You need to let me be what I'm meant to be," he declares. "I'm not the one who dies, I'm the one who does the killing."

Cut to the series' title card and cue the chills. Frank Castle is back, baby, and he hasn't got a single inhibition. 

Now that we have an official premiere date and a trailer for The Punisher season 2, concerns that Netflix would pull the plug on the series — like it did with Luke Cage... and Iron Fist... and Daredevil – have dropped from a boiling to a simmering point. Sure, the streamer could technically say "screw it!" and decide to cancel the series two weeks out from its return (stranger things have happened in the television world), but that seems highly unlikely. So calm your farm, kiddos — you've very little to worry about in the world of The Punisher.

With the assurance that The Punisher isn't going anywhere any time soon, fans can focus their attention on speculating what might go down in the series second season. Bernthal previously told Collider that the new episodes explore the idea that "peace sometimes can be the most scary place for a lot of folks," including Frank. 

"When you change people's circumstances, there's nothing that will take place of this world that you've come to know. That's a lot of what this season is about for Frank, is he keeps getting drawn into this fight and he's still grappling with the idea of, 'who is the real Frank Castle?' And is there any peace?" the actor shared. "This season he's very much trying to figure out who he is. I don't think he's ever been a guy too concerned with finding peace of mind or finding harmony or finding love. He's sadly kind of at home in the blackness and in the darkness."

Sounds like viewers are in for an intense ride come January 18.