Originally published July 22, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
Marvel Television kicked off its Defenders panel at the San Diego Comic-Con this evening by bringing out Frank Castle himself Jon Bernthal, who brought with him a clip from The Punisher. The footage hasn’t made its way online as of yet, but we do have a description of what was shown courtesy of Coming Soon…
The clip begins with an emotional, dreamlike sequence without any dialogue. Frank Castle is sitting with his daughter, playing guitar. Then he’s alone, still playing guitar and the scene cuts back and forth between to time periods as Castle struggles with the loss of his family.
Cut to a title on the screen that reads “Rural Alabama”
Frank is driving a truck with a photo of his family on the dashboard. He’s following two motorcycles driven by men that appear to be part of a gang called “Dogs of Hell”. There’s a quick car chase, but Castle makes short work of both bikers. He shoots them with a shotgun from his moving vehicle and then backs over their bodies just to be sure.
Cut to Juarez, Mexico. There’s some kind of party happening with a central figure who we follow with crosshairs to an upstairs bedroom. He’s with two women but still in Frank’s crosshairs. There’s a great bit where we hear the gun blast and a full second later the guy’s head explodes. The shot pulls back to reveal that Frank is a mile away in El Paso, Texas, on the border with a long range sniper rifle.
Cut to JFK Airport in New York. A grey suited businessman enters a bathroom stall. He’s talking on the phone. “I’m the last one?” he says. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be there soon.” But not if Castle has anything to say about it. He enters the bathroom and comes right into the guy’s stall, closing the door behind him. Frank winds up strangling the guy on the stall as two other guys enter the bathroom and laugh at the weird noises coming from the stall. “Get a room, you guys!” they shout.
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The Punisher is slated to hit Netflix later this year, and features a cast that includes Jon Bernthal (Frank Castle), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Ben Barnes (Billy Russo), Jason R Moore (Curtis Hoyle), Michael Nathanson (Sam Stein), Daniel Webber (Lewis Walcott), Amber Rose Revah (Dinah Madani), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Micro), Jaime Ray Newman (Sarah Lieberman), Paul Schulze (Bill Rawlins) and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in an as-yet-unrevealed role.
