Editorials
Jigsaw Should Probably Look Way Gnarlier in Netflix’s “The Punisher,” Yeah?
“When you look at your ugly, mangled face, you’re gonna remember what you did.”
A brand new teaser for the second season of Netflix’s “The Punisher” dropped this morning, announcing that the season will be hitting Netflix on January 18. The teaser didn’t actually include any footage from the season, but it did give us our first look at actor Ben Barnes’s character Billy Russo reborn as Marvel villain “Jigsaw,” a scarred up version of his former self.
And you’re probably a bit disappointed by the way he looks, we’re thinking.
As you surely recall, Frank Castle memorably mutilated his former best friend in the final episode of the first season, repeatedly smashing his head into a glass mirror as revenge for the murders of his wife and children. Castle brutally brought Russo to the brink of death but kept him alive as punishment, unknowingly creating a whole new villain in the process.
For anyone who needs a reminder of how badly Castle mangled Russo’s face…
In the comic books, Jigsaw is horribly mutilated, his face quite literally looking like a jigsaw puzzle that’s been taken apart and put back together (thus the moniker). Back in 2008, director Lexi Alexander brought Jigsaw to the screen for the first time, casting Dominic West in the role. West’s Jigsaw looked quite like the comics, his face disfigured to the point of making him into a full-on horror villain (below). The practical makeup effects work was incredible, doing proper justice to the character. But the approach for the Netflix series, well, it’s quite different.
As teased by today’s video and a new image (below), Ben Barnes’s iteration of Jigsaw isn’t exactly mutilated to the point of man becoming monster. Rather, the Netflix series’s take on Jigsaw is that Barnes has become more mutilated mentally than physically. The scars on his face, despite the brutal beating he sustained in the Season 1 finale, are actually quite minimal.
The idea, you might have guessed, was to keep the series grounded in a degree of reality.
“The repercussions of that final fight are definitely marked on his face,” Ben Barnes recently told Den of Geek. “They carefully tried to figure out a way to have all the specific injuries from that fight represented on Billy’s face. What kind of actual scars are left behind from that? I mean, aside from the glass, he took a bullet ricochet to the cheek. So as with all of these stories, they’ve gone for a more grounded version of what that imagery would be.”
He added, “It’s not necessarily about his face. It’s about the psychological, which is the way they try to approach everything this season. Even more so than last season, it’s about what’s in his head. They didn’t necessarily want it to be a horror show. It’s about something more internal than that. We don’t actually refer to the character as ‘Jigsaw.’ Instead, he very much has a jigsaw puzzle in his brain.”
Sure does take away some of the impact of that gruesome Season 1 beating, eh? This version of Jigsaw hardly even looks like the same man who was dealt that brutal punishment, as the season 1 finale saw Russo’s cheek torn apart and his entire face turned into a bloody pulp. That he came away from that with minimal scars, well, that’s not exactly realistic.
In any event, here’s hoping Russo’s transformation is done proper justice in other ways.
(Oh and if you needed one, use this article as a reminder that Punisher: War Zone rules.)
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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