Marvel TV has unveiled San Diego Comic-Con 2017 exclusive posters for the two Marvel/Netflix TV series that will be at the event - Marvel’s The Defenders and The Punisher. The Defenders brings together the four New York-based Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes that have been featured in their own TV shows to date (re: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist), as well as several of their allies and enemies alike. After The Defenders season 1 premieres in August, Marvel/Netflix will then give Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle (who was introduced to the MCU in Daredevil season 2) his own Netflix solo series, sometime this fall.
While Marvel TV was already confirmed to be bringing The Defenders to Comic-Con this year (along with its upcoming ABC series, Inhumans), the expectation has long been that The Punisher would have some presence at the event too. Similar to how the very first teaser for The Defenders was unveiled during the 2016 International Comic-Con, the odds are good that the first footage from The Punisher will be shown during Marvel TV’s 2017 SDCC panel next week and released online, shortly thereafter.
In the meantime, the Comic-Con 2017 artwork for both Defenders and Punisher is now available to check out online (see below). Per EW, the posters will be made exclusively available to those attending SDCC this year. The Punisher poster was drawn by Marvel Entertainment’s Chief Creative Officer, Joe Quesada, and will be available to pick up at the Marvel Booth (#2329) on Friday, July 21st, at 3:30 pm. Meanwhile, The Defenders poster was drawn by Marvel TV’s Creative Director, Joshua James Shaw, and will be made available during a signing for the show at the Marvel Booth on Saturday, July 22nd, at 10 am.
Daredevil season 2 showrunners Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez are also overseeing the first eight episodes of The Defenders. The miniseries event pits New York’s best super-powered vigilantes against the mysterious Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver), a figure who clearly has ties to The Hand - the clandestine ninja organization that has served as an overarching threat for the Marvel/Netflix shows released to date - and their own new “super-weapon”, in the form of the resurrected Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung). It’s all but a given that a new (final?) trailer for The Defenders will be showcased during the series’ panel at San Diego Comic-Con next week, so more details on what to expect from the first season may be arriving very soon.
As for The Punisher, that series features Steve Lightfoot (a writer/producer who has worked on such TV series as Hannibal and House of Cards) as showrunner and picks up with Bernthal’s Frank Castle, in the aftermath of the events of Daredevil season 2. Given that Bernthal isn’t expected to make a surprise appearance in The Defenders season 1, The Punisher will serve as the first time that viewers get to see the actor fully embody the Punisher. The Punisher will differ from previous Marvel/Netflix shows in certain respects too; not so much in terms of tone (though The Punisher will definitely be as violent - if not more so - as Daredevil season 2), but in the sense that its namesake is the first Marvel/Netflix crimefighter who isn’t aided by any sort of superpower and/or “enhanced” ability in his quest for justice.
The Defenders season 1 premieres on Netflix August 18th. The Punisher season 1 is expected to arrive this fall, possibly in November.
Source: EW
