If you predicted The Punisher would crash The Defenders panel at SDCC, you were right. The first trailer for Jon Bernthal’s long anticipated solo series has arrived exclusive to SDCC, and the tone certainly aligns with his name. He brutally kills like five people in two minutes.
The footage starts off with Frank and his daughter playing a bluegrass song on guitar. In between the music, we see Frank crying and leaning against a wall in distress, rubbing his hands down his face. As he puts his guitar down, all of a sudden hard rock music starts playing and he’s racing down a road in rural Alabama chasing motorcycles. He runs his car over them wearing his classic Punisher shirt. The back of the motorcycle gang's leather jacket says Dogs of Hell, as seen in Daredevil.
Next, Frank is in Texas. Using a sniper rifle, he shoots a cartel leader in Mexico right through the head while he's getting a blowjob. Back in NYC at JFK, Frank enters a bathroom stall and strangles a man wearing a suit while the other men in the bathroom just assume there’s a couple hooking up. The victim pleads to Frank before he dies, saying killing him won’t bring his family back. This does not stop The Punisher. He walks out of the bathroom calmly, zipping his hoodie up to cover his shirt.
So far, it’s unclear when the series takes place. There was no sign of Karen Page, and the scenes with Frank’s daughter are certainly intriguing. Also no signs of Micro, an old friend of The Punisher in the comics whose name was teased on a CD Frank retreives from his home in the Daredevil Season 2 finale, but one thing is for sure: this is the most brutal, gruesome, dirtiest series Marvel-Netflix has ever made and Jon Bernthal is perfect for it.
