Marvel And Netflix Pull 'The Punisher' From New York Comic-Con And Delay Series Premiere After Las Vegas Shooting [Updated]

Update: It seems that Netflix originally planned a surprise release date for The Punisher (its release date was intentionally obscured in all promotional materials) this month, with some stories suggesting that the show would drop as early as this weekend. However, in addition to pulling the series from NYCC, the surprise release date has been postponed as well. No release date has been set, but the series is still expected to premiere in 2017.The Punisher New York Comic Con panel has been cancelled by Marvel and Netflix in the wake of Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas.

The panel was initially scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 7, but the superhero television series, which follows a gun-toting vigilante, was pulled from NYCC out of respect for the 58 victims killed in the shooting.

Deadline first reported the news that the panel featuring star Jon Bernthal, Marvel TV boss Jeph Loeb, and other actors from the series was cancelled. The show adapts the story of the Marvel comic book character The Punisher, a former Navy SEAL who becomes a vigilante after his family is murdered. The character is an antihero who uses fatal violence, torture, and an extensive arsenal of guns to fight crime in New York City. Understandably, the subject matter of the show, which revels in gun violence, makes the show's panel ill-timed in the wake of the largest mass shooting in United States history.

Marvel and Netflix released a joint statement about the panel's cancellation:

"We are stunned and saddened by this week's senseless act in Las Vegas. After careful consideration, Netflix and Marvel have decided it wouldn't be appropriate for Marvel's The Punisher to participate in New York Comic-Con. Our thoughts continue to be with the victims and those affected by this tragedy."

New York Comic Con plans to fill the spot with another panel, which has not yet been announced. The Punisher panel was originally scheduled to run on Saturday from 5:15-6:15 p.m. at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Saturday is a packed day for the convention, with other widely followed shows like CBS All Access' Star Trek: Discovery and AMC's The Walking Dead staging panels that day. The organization told Deadline:

"New York Comic Con wholeheartedly supports Netflix & Marvel's decision to cancel Saturday's The Punisher panel. NYCC takes great pride in offering fans the best in pop culture programming and we are working tirelessly to fill that time spot at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. We will continue to update fans via our social channels throughout the weekend."

A gunman killed at least 58 people and wounded nearly 500 others at a country music festival in Las Vegas, in the country's deadliest mass shooting in history. It took place only a year after the previous deadliest shooting, the Orlando shooting, in which 50 people were killed.

There is no confirmation from Marvel or Netflix on whether The Punisher's premiere date, which was rumored to be October 13, 2017, will be pushed back in the wake of the shooting.