Marvel and Netflix have decided to pull The Punisher panel from this week’s New York Comic-Con following the Las Vegas shooting that happened this past Sunday.
“We are stunned and saddened by this week’s senseless act in Las Vegas,” Netflix and Marvel said in a joint statement today. “After careful consideration, Netflix and Marvel have decided it wouldn’t be appropriate for Marvel’s The Punisher to participate in New York Comic-Con. Our thoughts continue to be with the victims and those affected by this tragedy.”
Marvel’s Punisher features Jon Bernthal as vigilante Frank Castle as a man seeking revenge who kills criminals with a vast array of guns and weapons.
The Punisher panel was supposed to happen on Saturday – with more than likely a new trailer released and the premiere date announced – so it remains to be seen if the information will be released online. It’s possible Marvel and Netflix could even push back the release date for Punisher, though that is pure speculation at the moment.
The NYCC has also not announced if there will be a replacement panel, as Punisher was set to run 5:15-6:15 PM Saturday at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The cast of the Punisher was also set to participate in a signing at the Marvel Booth on Saturday, October 7th at 11 a.m., which we can guess may be cancelled as well.
Sunday in Las Vegas saw lone gunman 64-year-old Stephen Paddock open fire on attendees of a Jason Aldean concert leading to over 55 dead with over 500 injured. The gunman took his own live and the investigation is still underway.
In Marvel’s The Punisher, after exacting revenge on those responsible for the death of his wife and children, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) uncovers a conspiracy that runs far deeper than New York’s criminal underworld. Now known throughout the city as The Punisher, he must discover the truth about injustices that affect more than his family alone.
Marvel’s Punisher debuts later this year starring Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle; Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, aka Jigsaw, Frank’s Castle’s best friend from his days in the Special Forces, and runs a successful private military corporation called “Anvil”; Ebon Moss-Bachrach will play Micro, a former NSA analyst whose secrets may be of great value to Frank Castle and everyone around them; Amber Rose Revah joins as Dinah Madani, a highly-trained sophisticated Homeland Security agent who is vexed by the Punisher; Daniel Webber as Lewis Walcott, a young veteran who has had a difficult time re-assimilating into Civilian Society; Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, a friend of Frank Castle’s and one of the few people who knows he is alive; Paul Schulze as Rawlins, a high-ranking member of the CIA whose operations in Afghanistan intersect with Frank Castle; Jaime Ray Newman plays Sarah Lieberman, Micro’s wife whose marriage has made her life far more complicated, and Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein, a Homeland agent who is challenged by his partnership with Dinah.
