Frank Castle's New Sidekick In 'Punisher' Season 2 Is A 16-Year-Old Badass

Spoilers ahead for The Punisher Season 2. The Punisher, which returns to Netflix for Season 2 on Jan. 18, is a known entity in Marvel comics, but the eponymous character's various companions and enemies are often less familiar to even dedicated fans of the comics. For Season 2, The Punisher dug deep into the Marvel canon and fleshed out some minor players to help Frank Castle along his journey. For example, Amy Bendix is in the Punisher comics, but "the kid" Frank befriends is totally different on screen — and not just because she initially introduces herself as Rachel and has a bunch of other aliases.

In the comics, the character named Amy Bendix is from the Catskill Mountains in New York State, and her father Harry John Bendix is the local Sheriff. If that's really the case for the character on the Netflix series, we don't know, because Amy doesn't talk much about her childhood or any aspects of her past that came before being employed by a woman named Fiona. When we meet Amy in Season 2, her family is completely out of the picture.

Comic book Amy appears in Punisher: War Zone Volume 1, Issue 24, "Suicide Run Part 5: Shhh!" In the story, Frank Castle meets Amy (who is much younger) while presumed dead and on the run. They befriend one another, he hides out in her tree house, and is ultimately caught by her father.

There is also a character named Rachel in the Punisher comics, Rachel Cole. A former marine, she was a full-on sidekick to Frank Castle who teamed up with him after her wedding went Game of Thrones on her and only she and one other person survived. She even wears the Punisher logo in the comics, though unfortunately Amy does not in the series.

The Netflix adaptation turns Amy (played by Giorgia Whigham) into a savvy sixteen year old with plenty to learn from Frank, but plenty to teach him, too. While their companionship might initially remind you of Logan, the story ultimately takes a new turn — and I wouldn't say no to an Amy Bendix spinoff, even though there isn't really enough Marvel comics source material. Frank gets caught up in her criminal past while she's trying to get out, and they have the potential to be a really good team.

Unlike so many Marvel street-level heroes and especially The Punisher, Amy's a total badass without becoming a killing machine. Amy's also kind of a master of disguise, and able to use her youth and others' misogynistic assumptions to gain access and manipulate people without being seductive or overtly sexual. She's clearly had a hard life, and she's far from helpless, but she still gets to be a young teenager at the end of the day. It's a nice contrast to Frank's unrelenting darkness.

Unfortunately, even if The Punisher returns for Season 3, it's unlikely that Amy will return. At the end of Season 2, she and Frank part ways. She's headed to Florida to start a new life with one of Frank's former friends at a diving school. Unless she comes back to fulfill the "Rachel" side of her comic book destiny, this is probably and unfortunately the last we've seen of such a promising mash-up of Marvel characters.