Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Watch: Marvel sneaked a Punisher trailer at the end of The Defenders

Marvel’s Punisher trailer is about a devil collecting his dues.

Alex Abad-Santos
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.

Following the tradition of Marvel movies, Marvel’s Netflix series The Defenders has a treat for anyone who sticks around through the credits scene in its last episode: a trailer for Marvel’s next Netflix series, The Punisher.

The trailer opens with Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) slamming the ground with a sledgehammer and talking about his past.

“Memories, they never hurt me,” he says while we see glimpses of Castle’s past — his murdered family and his stint in the army. “The past is more than memories, it’s the devil you sold your soul to. He’s coming. He’s coming to collect.”

The trailer closes by zooming and out and revealing what Castle’s handiwork with the sledgehammer has produced: the iconic and ominous Punisher skull logo.

Bernthal’s Castle was introduced in the second season of Daredevil, as a broken vigilante. Castle, unlike his Netflix superhero cohort, has no hesitation in killing anyone he believes is evil. Scarred by the murders of his family, he sought revenge on everyone and anyone — the members of Hell’s Kitchen’s crime mobs, the Hand, the villain known as the Blacksmith, etc. — who had any connection to their deaths.

And now, in his solo series, we’ll see the next chapter in Castle’s story: a look at what happens to the man in the aftermath of all the bloody fury he’s unleashed upon Hell’s Kitchen.

The Punisher is set for release later this year.

More in Culture

Advice
What trainers actually think about the 12-3-30 workoutWhat trainers actually think about the 12-3-30 workout
Advice

Have we finally unlocked exercise’s biggest secret? Or is this yet another lie perpetrated Big Treadmill?

By Alex Abad-Santos
Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
How fan fiction went mainstreamHow fan fiction went mainstream
Podcast
Podcasts

The community that underpins Heated Rivalry, explained.

By Danielle Hewitt and Noel King
Culture
Why Easter never became a big secular holiday like ChristmasWhy Easter never became a big secular holiday like Christmas
Culture

Hint: The Puritans were involved.

By Tara Isabella Burton
Culture
The sticky, sugary history of PeepsThe sticky, sugary history of Peeps
Culture

A few things you might not know about Easter’s favorite candy.

By Tanya Pai
The Highlight
The return of resistance craftingThe return of resistance crafting
The Highlight

Want to fight fascism? Join a knitting circle.

By Anna North