‘Punisher’ nixes events after Vegas massacre

Netflix has cancelled 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 cancelling a Paris event called “Nuit Noire (Black Night),” Variety reported. The news comes one day after the entertainment partners announced the cancellation of the Punisher panel planned for New York Comic-Con.

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 in Las Vegas 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, centre 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 said, adding: “Our thoughts continue to be with the victims and those affected by this tragedy.”

Last year, the season debut of the series Shooter, based on the fiction of former Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter, was twice postponed after deadly attacks on police.

This week, Blade Runner 2049 cancelled the red carpet event before its premiere. The filmmakers and stars acknowledged the shooting tragedy from the stage.