Marvel Confirms Recent Events Have Not Altered Any Part Of 'The Punisher'

The tragedy that occurred in Las Vegas at the beginning of the month reignited the debate about [...]

The tragedy that occurred in Las Vegas at the beginning of the month reignited the debate about gun violence in the United States. Marvel Television responded to the tragedy by cancelling their plans to showcase The Punisher at New York Comic-Con, which was scheduled to take place less than a week later.

But while the panel for the series was nixed after the incident, the series itself did not receive any alterations to the final cut because of the tragedy.

President of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb recently discussed why the event was cancelled in a conversation with Inverse, during which the producer also revealed why they didn't change the show's content, which heavily features gun violence.

"This was a decision that we made specifically because it was a week after a horrible, horrible incident," said Loeb. "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."

The decision to cancel the event was a direct response to the tragedy, as Marvel did not want their program that depicts brutal violence to be in the same conversation as the tragedy still so fresh in people's minds.

"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," Loeb said.

Marvel also cancelled an partnership with military defense contractors Northrop Grumman set to be revealed at New York Comic Con after their initial announcement was met with criticism.

That initiative was going to include an all-ages comic featuring Northrop Grumman concepts crossing over with the Avengers, which is ironic considering the plot of Iron Man features Tony Stark rejecting the military industrial complex. Marvel's statement in which they announced they're pulling out of the promotion stated their intent did not come across, but that they will remain committed to "elevating, and introducing, STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] to a broad audience."

Two weeks after the original panel for The Punisher was planned to take place, Marvel announced the release date for the new series. And Loeb's comments seem like it will be the same show it always was, despite the tragedy having an immediate impact on their plans.

The Punisher premieres on Netflix on November 17.

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