‘Punisher’ events in Paris, NY canceled after Las Vegas shooting
Netflix has canceled twin Saturday events intended to promote its new Marvel series “The Punisher,” in the wake of Sunday’s Las Vegas shooting massacre.
The streaming titan and the Disney-owned studio said that it was canceling a Paris event called “Nuit Noire (Black Night)” at the Cirque d’Hiver monument, Variety reported Thursday morning. The news comes one day after the entertainment partners announced the cancellation of the “Punisher” panel planned for New York Comic-Con, which kicks off today.
Netflix and Marvel “decided it wouldn’t be appropriate for Marvel’s ‘The Punisher’ to go ahead with the Paris Nuit Noire event and to participate in New York Comic-Con,” they said in a statement, citing the gun massacre near the Las Vegas Strip that killed 58 and injured more than 500.
The dark and violent tales of Marvel’s the Punisher, introduced in the comics four decades ago, center on combat veteran turned vigilante Frank Castle and his weapon-heavy thirst for revenge after his family is gunned down in New York.
The bloody new 13-episode series, starring Jon Bernthal and guided by Steve Lightfoot, had been teased with an indefinite launch date.
“We are stunned and saddened by this week’s senseless act in Las Vegas,” the companies had said Wednesday, adding: “Our thoughts continue to be with the victims and those affected by this tragedy.”
Last year, the season debut of the USA Network series “Shooter,” based on the fiction of former Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter, was twice postponed after deadly attacks on police that summer.
This week, the film “Blade Runner 2049″ canceled the red carpet celebration before its premiere Tuesday in Hollywood. The filmmakers and stars acknowledged the shooting tragedy from the stage.