Marvel's The Punisher: Decoding the First Official Trailer

Decoding The Punisher's first trailer

The first official trailer for Marvel's The Punisher has arrived, and it's brought plenty of clues to what awaits Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) with it. Ahead, we decode what we can from the footage.

One Batch, Two Batch...

The opening seconds of the trailer feature everything Frank has loved and lost: his children and his wife, who had welcomed him home from Iraq with open arms. As we learned in Daredevil, Frank's family died in a mob shootout at Central Park — hence all the glimpses of the carousel — but this scene doesn't turn out to be an exact memory, because...

Penny and Dime

...it's actually a nightmare. Frank's wife isn't murdered in their bedroom, but the traumatized Frank hasn't been able to get the image of her being shot in the head out of his mind, no matter where he is.

Suiting Up

Frank had adopted the Punisher moniker long before completing his body armor, but here, we finally get a glimpse of him putting that suit together.

Past Sins

Frank watches footage of an interrogation from a "covert operation" that has something to do with the conspiracy rearing its head in New York. Take a closer look at the address: The user appears to be Micro (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who must have accessed the incriminating video in the first place. But where is Frank in this shot? Is he one of the soldiers or the interrogator? And who is Zubair?

Present Worries

The footage clearly worries Frank, who turns out to be watching all this on Micro's screens. It means he's tracked down the elusive hacker — but is Micro a friend or a foe?

A Match Made in Hell

He wants to be a friend. In the trailer, he offers Frank a chance to team up against whoever's pulling the strings behind the conspiracy that's sent both men underground. Micro appears to have a larger plan, while Frank just wants to kill his enemies. In this partnership, Micro's the brains, and Frank's the brawn.

Back to Work

Homeland agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah) strides into her office while Frank's voiceover explains that everyone is out to get him. But Dinah, as the trailer reveals toward the end, thinks Frank's dead. What will draw him into the open, aside from Micro? And does Dinah have anything to do with the conspiracy?

A New Page

Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) makes her first appearance in the trailer in a shot that features the two allies in trouble. They could use the Man Without Fear's help...

Billy the Beaut

Billy Russo (Ben Barnes), now the CEO of a private military corporation named Anvil, strides away from an explosion because he's a cool guy. Okay, fine: He might be leaving the scene of an explosion because, despite his charming exterior, he probably has some greater plans up his sleeve. He did fight alongside Frank in Iraq, after all — and comic book fans know what could be in store for the former soldier.

Die Hard, Frank Castle-style

Why do a hallway fight when you can leap down an entire stairwell using nothing but a fire hose? It's very John McClane of Frank to do so, but more importantly, who was he after in that building? We get a shot of an explosion tearing through a fancy apartment after this — could that have been Frank's handiwork?

Micro in Trouble

The hacker gets cornered in this shot. Could this be the reason why he built a lair and went into hiding, or is this the result of him leaving his safe haven behind? Whatever the case may be...

Fire Away

...both he and Frank will be in trouble soon enough. This, again, appears to be Micro's lair, and Frank is taking down one mercenary after the next while in his Punisher armor. But who sent them? And how did they find him there?

Those questions — and all of our other ones — will be answered when Marvel's The Punisher hits Netflix this fall.