Hey guys, it's Jan here, I was super-psyched to see the first part of the Daredevil Season
2 trailer which gives us a great look at the conflict between Frank Castle, aka the Punisher,
and Matt Murdock's Daredevil.
So, I wanted to break down the trailer and explain some of the easter eggs and references.
Just before I get stuck in, there will be potential spoilers for season 2.
If you want to avoid those spoilers and get a refresher for season 1, check out my video
15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Daredevil.
Ok, this trailer is definitely all about establishing the Punisher's origin story.
After a shot of Castle's home and pictures of his family we get this interesting shot
of him sitting in front of what looks like New York's Central Park Carousel with the
lights clicking off one by one.
This, along with the creepy sound of a child singing, is likely a nod to how Frank Castle
lost his wife and children in the comics when they were gunned down by mobsters in Central
Park.
There's more hints that this location is significant later in the trailer with Punisher taking
out some bad guys at the carousel in this shot.
The x-ray of the skull that Karen is handling is an easter egg for The Punisher's signature
white skull we see on his comic book costume.
But look a bit closer at the shot from the trailer and you'll also see Karen's fingers
run just behind a dark circle to the left of the skull, a likely reference to the bullet
wound Frank Castle suffered to his head during the mob attack which killed his family.
Also there in the background are what look like case files that Karen might be going
over and there seems to be a bloodied victim in one of the photos with meat hanging around
him which ties in with this set photo of Daredevil standing in what looks like a meat packing
warehouse.
And it's possibly a nod to the fact that in Punisher's extended world of comics, video
games, and movies, he's used equipment like meat hooks and grinders or even meat itself
to deal with opponents for example in the Streets of Laredo comics, the 1989 and 2004
Punisher movies, and the 2005 Punisher video game which features a meat packing plant.
And the trailer also alludes to the Punisher's military past in the comic books when we see
some of his weapons, which he has tons of in the comics, and when we hear the words
about how he's taking out gangs with "military precision".
In the comics, Frank Castle spent time in the Marines, four years in Vietnam and also
ran black ops missions.
The "One Batch, Two Batch" book likely belonged to Castle's child, but given that the show's
production designer and showrunner could have chosen anything to illustrate the front cover,
the fact they chose bears feels like a nod to the time the Punisher used a group of polar
bears in a zoo to attack the Gnucci crime family.
And, given Castle's military background, the phrase "one batch, two batch" might be a reference
to the Jessica Jones character Will Simpson, who is the MCU's version of the comic book
character Frank Simpson, aka Nuke, who underwent a super-soldier program similar to the one
which created Captain America.
Simpson's medication consists of one red pill to get him going, two white to keep him even
and one blue to bring him down.
Will Simpson has a military background and the show implies what he went through made
him unstable and it'll be interesting to see if there's any connection in this shared universe
between him and Castle.
The Punisher's phrase "penny and dime" as he goes to take a shot could be a nod to the
comic book title "Ten To One" from the Punisher War Journal series and the number 10 also
seems significant given there's a number 10 card we can spot later at the scene of a massacre.
Or it could be a reference to the 'penny and dime' trick where a penny is used to make
a dime disappear, which in this case would mean the Punisher is making a group of bad
guys disappear.
While Matt's discussing his Catholic guilt with Father Lantom, we glimpse a crucifix
and what could be a nun's habit, a hint perhaps that Matt returns to meet a nun at St Agnes'
Orphanage.
We saw the orphanage run by nuns briefly in a season 1 flashback scene to Matt's childhood
where he met Stick.
In the comic books, we learn that Matt's mother Maggie became a nun called Margaret, so it'll
be interesting to see if Matt meets her this season.
By the way, this is the same orphanage that Skye from Agents of SHIELD grew up in.
The DA's office gets a mention in the trailer and seems to be passing information on to
Matt Murdock, a likely nod to the new season 2 character Blake Tower played by Stephen
Rider.
In the comics, Blake Tower is New York's district attorney and helps Daredevil catch various
criminals.
There's quite a bit of interaction between Matt Murdock and Karen Page in this trailer
and a hint at a likely romance between them.
In the comics, Karen is one of Matt's longest-running love interests.
There are some fast-cut rooftop scenes with Daredevil and The Punisher arguing.
One of the shots shows Daredevil up against some bricks, which is likely the same moment
from this set photo in which The Punisher has chained up Daredevil.
It's an iconic moment in the comics where Daredevil finds himself in a Sophie's Choice
situation.
Daredevil disagrees with the Punisher taking out criminals and believes they need to be
arrested and punished by the law.
Punisher is about to kill Dino Gnucci, a member of a prominent crime family, and gives Daredevil
a gun telling him the only way to stop him shooting Gnucci is to kill the Punisher himself.
In either case, Daredevil has to murder or let someone be murdered.
It's a really great scene and later in the comics the Punisher sets Daredevil free after
knocking him out, which is likely why we see him later in the trailer using a chain to
fight in a couple of shots.
The Punisher's line to Daredevil "you're one bad day away from being me" goes back to the
Daredevil comics and also reminds me of The Joker's "one bad day" line in the Batman comic
The Killing Joke.
We also get a look at two different Daredevil masks in the trailer.
Here we see the same red mask he had at the end of Season 1, and later he's wearing a
black mask.
The black mask is damaged in this shot, but it matches the black mask in one of the official
set photos.
And to cap off the awesome trailer, we get an introduction to Elodie Yung's Elektra who
we see already knows Matt.
There was a reference to her in season 1 when Foggy asked Matt about the Greek girl he dated
in college and Matt said that it didn't work out between them.
In the comics, Elektra is the daughter of a Greek ambassador, is trained in martial
arts, and has had an on-off relationship with Matt Murdock.
Now, I'll have more discussion of Elektra in my video about Part 2 of the trailer, but
it's worth pointing out that we didn't get to see Wilson Fisk return yet in this trailer.
I'm hopeful he will be in season 2 as he hires Elektra as a bodyguard in the comics to protect
himself against the Punisher.
So what other easter eggs did you spot in the trailer and what do you think about Jon
Bernthal as The Punisher?
Let me know in the comments below.
Next week I'll have another breakdown and easter egg review of the part 2 trailer, so
do make sure you're subscribed to get that.
And in the meantime, you can also take a look at some of my other videos including 15 cool
behind-the-scenes facts about the making of Daredevil, Jessica Jones season 1 easter eggs,
and Deadpool easter eggs.
Thanks for watching!
Yippee ki-yay movie lovers!