Following the tragedy that occurred in Las Vegas at the beginning of the month, Marvel and Netflix decided to not only put a temporary halt on promotion for their upcoming TV series The Punisher, but also push its release date back to November. Of course, that decision raised the question of whether the show, which focuses on gun-toting vigilante Frank Castle, would be undergoing a certain amount of editing and alteration in response to recent events.
Turns out that hasn’t been the case, though, as Marvel TV chief Jeph Loeb has confirmed that no changes have been made to the actual content of The Punisher in the wake of the tragedy. Loeb revealed the news while discussing the reasoning behind the cancellation of a planned panel at New York Comic-Con – not to mention a special screening that was set to take in Paris that same weekend. It was felt that these events would have occurred just too soon after the incident.
“This was a decision that we made specifically because it was a week after a horrible, horrible incident. It hasn’t changed the television series, the show is not predominantly about gun violence, and in fact it shows you the problems that occur in that world. But, to introduce that as close to what had happened. We made a very hard choice with Netflix, and our hearts still go out to the people of Las Vegas and the people around the world who still deal with that senseless violence.”
Without having seen the series, Loeb’s comments about The Punisher seem appropriate, going by how the character was portrayed in Daredevil season 2. Though Castle frequently uses firearms, he’s the victim of gun violence himself, as his family were murdered when they were caught in the crossfires of a gang war. Likewise, Castle’s gun use isn’t glorified and he’s expected to be presented as a damaged individual attempting to cope with his grief rather than a straight-up superhero.
Frank Castle’s solo series will land on the streaming service on November 17th – putting the Marvel show in direct competition with DC’s Justice League, which arrives in cinemas that very same day.