'The Punisher' Season 2 Viewership Suffers Massive Drop – Is Cancellation Next?

Marvel-Netflix shows have been dropping likes flies, from Iron Fist to Luke Cage to Daredevil. And the streaming giant may be training its sights on one more comic book series: The Punisher. The Jon Bernthal series debuted its second season last week, but it may be its last season if its viewership numbers indicate anything.

A new report shows a sharp decline in The Punisher season 2 viewership from Season 1. While Netflix has not announced anything, the numbers-fixated streaming service may use this as an opportunity to take out another Marvel series.

A report from Business Insider via the analytics company Jumpshot reveals a viewership decline of 40% between season 1 and 2 of The Punisher. Jumpshot tracks 5 billions actions a day across 100 million devices to track online consumer behavior. The analytics company found that with the first-weekend viewership for The Punisher, the second season's was dramatically lower than that of its first season in 2017.

While these numbers come from a third-party source based on a reduced sample size, Netflix has recently put a lot of stock in viewership numbers where before its original titles were all but guaranteed a renewal. When it comes to its Marvel series, Netflix has been temperamental as well, especially in the wake of Disney's upcoming launch of its streaming platform Disney+. It's clear that Disney's intention to pull its titles from Netflix and develop original shows is affecting the streaming giant's decisions when it comes to its Marvel shows.

However, Business Insider notes that The Punisher's decline is not as dramatic a drop as the shows cancelled by Netflix. With Luke Cage, there was a steep 63% drop in viewership. Iron Fist was dealt an even lower blow, with a 69% drop. Meanwhile Daredevil, whose cancellation shocked both fans and crew, suffered a 61% drop in viewers from Season 2. So perhaps all hope is not lost for The Punisher, though it's clear that Daredevil's standing as Netflix's fourth-biggest show didn't protect it from being axed mere weeks after its third season premiered.

Right now, only Jessica Jones and The Punisher remain standing among Netflix's Marvel shows. We'll have to wait and see if The Punisher is the next series to get the axe.