Marvel's The Punisher: What Does The Ending Really Mean?

1. Billy Russo Is Coming Back

The climactic action sequence of the season sees old pals Frank and Billy finally come to blows (and bullets), in one of the most personal fights we've seen in this universe. You can feel the hatred and betrayal dripping off the screen, and it all culminates in arguably the show's most wince-inducingly graphic moment (though Frank's thumbs in Rawlins' eyes is up there too) as Frank rubs Billy's face into the glass.

Billy is all about his looks (and played by the annoyingly handsome Ben Barnes), and they've been completely stripped away from him. We haven't peeked under those bandages yet - and honestly, if he just left them on permanently he'd be a terrifying sight - but we can assume he's horribly disfigured. This season served as a Frank Castle story, but it's also a long-game origin story for the character's biggest villain.

This was just the beginning of the conflict between the pair, with Billy now very much set-up to return as Jigsaw in Season 2. The origin story has changed - Billy simply worked for the mob in the comics - but that only increases the personal stakes and weight to their battle, and means the next run will be centred around Punisher vs Jigsaw whereas this was Frank vs Billy, with Madani attacking from another angle for good measure.

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