It's been a tough ol' time of late for fans of Marvel's various Netflix series: Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil and Jessica Jones have all bitten the dust, and now the fate of The Punisher has finally been revealed.
After just two seasons, Netflix is canning that series too.
The show's second season premiered back in January, and after some umming and ahhing from fans about its future, the streaming site has put any hopes of a third chapter to bed, on Netflix at least.
But there's always Disney+ , a brand new streaming service launching later this year, which is set to feature a whole raft of Marvel films and series (Disney currently own Marvel), some of which will be never-before-seen projects, while some are likely to be characters that we have met before – and that leaves room for the likes of The Punisher to return in a blaze of glory.
So, if that is on the cards, what would the show look like and what would happen?
Here's everything we've thought about so far.
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The Punisher season 3 cast: Who might return?
We can all agree that Jon Bernthal has done a stellar job of bringing Frank Castle to life, so we can't imagine there would be many complaints about bringing him back if the show does return on Disney+, or another outlet.
From the main cast, we would also hope to see Amber Rose Revah return as Dinah Madani, as well as Jason R Moore as Frank's close ally Curtis 'Curt' Hoyle.
Other potential returnees include Josh Stewart as John Pilgrim, Giorgia Whigham as Amy Bendix and even Floriana Lima as Krista Dumont, who was left paralysed but alive when we last saw her following a brutal bout with Madani in season two.
There's even the possibility that Ebon Moss-Bachrach could feature as Frank's tech guy David Lieberman / Micro, with Jaime Ray Newman returning as his wife Sarah Lieberman.
Frank did execute his friend-turned-nemesis Billy Russo / Jigsaw, but does that mean we've seen the last of Ben Barnes?
It depends whether a potential new series would pick up from where we left off, or take the narrative in a whole new direction.
The Punisher season 3: Will Daredevil appear?
With Bernthal's Frank Castle making his screen debut in Daredevil's second season, fans are keen to see Charlie Cox return the favour and pop up in The Punisher as Matt Murdock and/or his vigilante alter-ego.
Could it happen? Quite possibly. "Obviously Daredevil and Punisher have a lot of history and story between them in the comic books. So it would be great to dig into some of that," showrunner Steve Lightfoot told Heroic Hollywood.
"Also villains like the Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) who was featured in quite a lot of the Punisher books as well. So it would be fantastic to get some of those guys back into the show if we can make it work."
Deborah Ann Woll also featured in both seasons of The Punisher (to a greater or lesser extent) as Daredevil's Karen Page, so might well cross over a third time, too.
The Punisher season 3 episode 1: What will happen next?
The second season of The Punisher closed with Russo, as well as corrupt business tycoons Anderson and Eliza Schultz, six feet under.
Castle, hitman Pilgrim and street-smart grifter Amy all decided to go their separate ways, while Russo's psychotherapist and lover Dumont was revealed to have survived her fall (just).
There then followed a three month time-jump – Madani, now working for the CIA, offers to recruit Castle as a gun-for-hire, but he refuses, opting instead to continue his war against crime on his own terms.
"The end of season two, that final image was meant to say, very much, 'Look, Frank is now The Punisher'," explained Lightfoot. "And hopefully people were like, 'I can't wait for season three, you know, come back and see what the hell he's up to'.
"I've got a really good idea about what would be next. I've got a very good idea about what season three is, I've got an idea for it I'm really excited about, which Marvel know about and they're also excited about."
Just because Netflix have pulled the plug, it doesn't mean The Punisher can't carry on in exactly the same vein, and if Marvel are as excited as Lightfoot said they were, it sounds entirely possible that the show could carry on as normal.
The Punisher season 3 trailer: Is there any footage?
Now that the show has been officially cancelled, don't expect to see a trailer anytime soon, or at all.
There's every chance that Marvel might decide not to proceed any further.
The Punisher season 3 release date: When is it out?
Again, following its Netflix cancellation, it's impossible to know if the show will return, let alone when.
But watch this space for updates.
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