PC POST #378: -OPINION- THE PUNISHER TRAILER + Details

It took me awhile to write this article but finally let's start to talk a bit in about the newest Punisher trailer who got us all pumped up!

Check it out below!

After seeing the trailer this is nothing like we have ever seen before. It's emotionally intense and with an amazing action that makes the viewers stuck to the screen. To add to this amazing equation Netflix decided to call upon nostalgia and give to the trailer soundtrack "One" by Metallica.

This trailer does give to every viewer the direction Netflix/Marvel wants for the character and they were pretty convincing, also gives us some sort of plot keys to what's going to happen, Frank Castle is being hunted by Homeland, FBI, etc..

There have been some myths that were built around this trailer and some controversy. Based in MY OPINION i will try to clear that out.

Maria Castle wasn't killed in the bedroom with Frank

Like it was mentioned in Daredevil season 2, Castle's family were killed in Central Park during a meet with three gangs, the Mexican Cartel, the Irish and Dogs of Hell. This meeting was set up by Blacksmith. But looks like it didn't end here, Blacksmith was just the guy who arranged the meeting. This particular image is a dream sequence that turns out to be a nightmare for Frank.

Who/What is Zubair?

"Zubair" seems to be a vital element for everything that went "wrong" with this covert operation that Frank Castle was part of.

So what is/who Zubair? Zubair is the guy who's being tortured in the video that Frank is watching.

We don't know yet who he is but a few days ago one of the official accounts from the Punisher series leaked this image.

Rawlins

Rawlins is a Punisher comic book character and was also a CIA operator. In this portrayal, he is more than just a single operator he is the man in charge of CIA.
We don't know yet what went wrong in that covert operation I mentioned above but Rawlins and Frank shared a past together back in the day.
In the first trailer was shown both characters fighting and we saw Rawlins with a serious injured in the eye.

Aside from being the head of CIA and want to take out Frank for something that happened in the past, I believe we will be seeing some sort of grudge about Frank that will make it personal for that injury.

Micro

Micro, another character that belongs to the Punisher comics, created by Mike Baron. This take seems to be a little different from the comics. From what I have seen in the trailer both characters have a common goal, getting rid of the guys who are after Frank and probably him too.

It's still a clue why he will be joining Frank, Micro doesn't seem to have a son but he has a wife, maybe something bad will happen to her...

FBI, Homeland & CIA

There's been a lot of people saying that the government is after Frank. Well, it's not the government. It's a guy who has a grudge against Frank who runs the CIA and he sees him as a loose end he should have died when his family was killed. 

FBI and Homeland Security because he's a fugitive. In case you forgot he escaped from prison in Daredevil season 2. He's a wanted man.

Not to mention those mercs from ANVIL, the military private corporation that is owned by Billy Russo that was probably contracted to get rid of Frank. 

So basically it's the Punisher vs the World.

There's still no official release date for this series but more and more I'm thinking that they will release all the episodes by surprise.

Posted by Ivo Santos ( FB / Twitter)

PC POST #377: New Marvel's the Punisher promo and some thoughts about the soldiers who are hunting down Frank.

Another promo is out and this one is bloody and violent. It's 30 seconds of pure mayhem when we see Frank in the hoods killing some soldiers one by one.

It was amazing how they developed these specific fighting scenes when we see Frank Castle pull off some amazing guerrilla warfare techniques to beat those soldiers to the ground permanently. While seeing Frank Castle in this specific situation it gave me some sort of nostalgia from the classic film "FIRST BLOOD" ( Rambo I).

Check out the teaser:

Here is the question who are these soldiers? Well, one thing is almost certain, these are not soldiers from the government. These soldiers are from some sort of private military company and they might belong to Anvil Corporation that was founded and headed by Billy Russo.

On the other side, these soldiers seem to have the same gear as we see Frank using in this picture.

"I'm coming for you." These are the words from Frank Castle in this short teaser but to who he is talking about? Rawlins or Russo? Or both?

Despite that, we don't have a release date. I guess we will find out to whom Frank was threatening somewhere in the upcoming months.

Ivo Santos [FB/Twitter]

PC POST #376: [SPOILERS] Secret Empire Omega #1 shows The Punisher path of redemption.

Watch out!! SPOILERS below!

Secret Empire is over. Thankfully. It did more damage than good to many characters like Captain America and the Punisher.

This book was a good reading. Without a doubt the best of the series. Especially for the great discussion between the real Steve Rogers and his alternate self "Hydra" Rogers.

Now let's talk about what is important... The Punisher. 

The Punisher got a few pages in this book when we see him hunting down Hydra operatives on a way of redemption himself. 

Frank is tracking down all the cells and operations of Hydra and put them down. Something that from my point of view he should've done since the beginning of this event.

Frank says that "This might be the worst of them.." he was talking about his mistakes in his life and siding with Hydra the worst of them all. 

He also adds: "I was tricked... Manipulated by one man I thought I could trust". 

While he's destroying Hydra operations he's been tracking down by Nick Fury Jr. 

Fury also says that "He's ready". I don't have doubts that this will serve as a bridge to Punisher #218 that will start in November with Frank using the War Machine suit.

The Punisher will be one of the few characters that will not have a one-shot before this new series, maybe because of his own current run that it's still ongoing until one month before the release of the Punisher #218.

I'm glad this event is over. Worst than sided with a "good" mafia family, being transformed into an angel or be a Frankenstein rip-off, was betraying what he believed since his very own foundations. 

He sided with a terrorist organization. Because he blindly followed a false messiah with broken promises to get his family back. If there is a writer who believes that Frank wants his family back, well... he should quit his job due to his own lack of knowledge about the character.
Frank wouldn't want his family back and let them see what he has become. Because of them and his addiction to destroying crime.

Now let's enjoy the upcoming issues 16 and 17 from Becky Cloonan's run.

Issue #16 (September)

Issue #17 (October)

And welcoming this new Punisher run with Matthew Rosenberg and Guiu Vilanova.

The Punisher #218: Frank Castle - War Machine (November)

posted by Ivo Santos ( FB / Twitter)

PC POST #375: New images and teaser from Marvel's the Punisher

A few days ago new stills were released by Netflix from Marvel's the Punisher. Also, a new logo and teaser were released too. During the teaser we see a lot of redacted words it appears a mysterious mission called "Cerberus".

As far as I know, there is no relation to anything ever mentioned in the comics. Sadly we don't have the official release date.

Check out the teaser:

And check out the images released by Netflix:

It's impossible not to notice that we got two images with Frank and Karen together. I believe she will be an important character in the series, not just an appearance. 

And once again we see Frank in a military outfit, which leads us to how important and influential Frank's past will be during this series.

Ivo Santos ( FB / Twitter )

PC POST #374: -REVIEW- Edge of VenomVerse: War Stories - Deal with the Devil

Edge of Venomverse began and Declan Shalvey took his chance to be the writer and artist of this 8th-page story of Edge of Venomverse: War Stories #01.
I didn't know how he would be as a writer but I was very pleased with everything I read!

As the reader can imagine an 8th-page story has to be very compressed in terms of story and action and it worked like a charm. Declan Shalvey had enough time to develop Frank and show the readers what he can do with the symbiote.

This is the third time we see Frank using a symbiote, well technically two times. The one we saw in War Journal wasn't the real symbiote it was more of an exoskeleton fueled by Venomechs created by Stuart Clarke aka Rampage.

In terms of character, the excuse Declan used in the comic for Frank using the symbiote was a bit "forced" I don't imagine Frank making pacts with symbiote so easily but the way Declan wrote it was more than worth a read. 

This Frank doesn't control the symbiote yet and I don't know if he will appear in the upcoming issues of Venomverse but it's a fun reading for every Punisher fan and especially for those who read the "What if... The Punisher was possessed by Venom" by Kurt Busiek will see some sort of nostalgia about it.

I always praise the artwork of Declan Shalvey in the Punisher covers and this is no different. I really liked his artwork. Very solid and very detailed in the weapons and everything around the panels. Great motion in the action scenes.

The tone of this comic was spot on and I will not forget to credit Chris O' Halloran for the great colors we were presented in this comic and every panel.

I want to see more of this "Venomised" Punisher in the upcoming issues of Edge of Venomverse, it was a very interesting concept that will probably help the "resistance team" in getting rid of the "Poisons"

Overall Rate: 8.5 / 10

posted by Ivo Santos ( FB / Twitter)

PC POST #373: -REVIEW- THE PUNISHER #15

Simple and compressed. This should be standard for most of the Punisher stories, it's a simple "recipe" that it's been unused for awhile now until Becky Cloonan step up and show how it's done.

Issue #15 tells us a story of a serial killer who is pushing innocent people into the front of the trains and we will see Frank Castle hunting him down.

 In the first issues of this comic, Becky Cloonan shows how bad this villain is and easily make the reader asking for some kind of punishment. 

This guy in with a trench coat is far from being the worst villain the Punisher faced in the current run, but he is a man who knows his surroundings and the Punisher goes into his own "turf" which reveals to be a difficult task.

Cloonan introduced a secondary character called Ryan, a homeless that lived in the underground and was a great help to Frank. Frank recognized that Ryan was a former lieutenant and he pretty much offers his help to Frank to catch this killer, Frank accepted.  

This was the only negative point of this story in my opinion. Not because of the character which was great but the way Frank easily accepted his help putting his life in danger.

On the other side, it was great seeing the empathy of two former military men joining forces to the same goal and Cloonan explored very well the relationship between them.

Matt Horak did a great work on this issue. So far and in my opinion, this was his best work since he picked up the Punisher title. Very solid artwork with a great motion in the action scenes between characters. The backgrounds were great even the crowd who were in the background were well defined. 

Lee Loughridge was a huge help in the coloring of this issue, the tone was perfect for an underground scene.

Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire continues to impress with amazing covers and this is no exception. It's an action scene that reminds me the old 90's beat em up games with Frank wasting some bad guys in the subway.

OVERALL RATE: 7.5 / 10

Posted by Ivo Santos (FB / Twitter)

PC POST #372: New image of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle pre-Punisher!

Here is a new leaked image by Empire that shows Frank Castle in one of many flashbacks we have seen so far.

Fully geared up we can see in this particular image of Frank Castle with his US Marine Corp suit which shows the strong presence and development in the upcoming series of his "shady" past.

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure it out that something went wrong, even Col Schoonover said it during Daredevil season 2.

During the article of the Empire, Jon Bernthal said a few words about his role as Frank Castle / The Punisher.

“It’s the only thing that silences the demons, temporarily." 
“There’s going to be an attempt to move beyond the Punisher, but that’s something he can’t shake. There’s part of me that’s hungry to get back into the darkness, that’s excited to see it fall apart."

There is no release date yet for this series, but we can count with the regular format of 13 episodes.