A tribute in memory of Stan Lee has been removed from the season two finale of The Punisher, with seemingly no explanation.
As reported by Screen Rant, The Punisher’s second and final season premiered on Netflix back in January 2019, shortly after Lee’s death in November 2018. At the time, many viewers thought that the “In Loving Memory of Stan Lee” slide that appeared before the credits was in bad taste, as it directly followed the very violent scene of Frank Castle living up to his alias with the help of some assault rifles.
Check out the trailer for the second season of The Punisher below.
Now, three years on, and one streaming platform change later, Disney+ have removed the tribute, despite the one at the end of Jessica Jones’ second season remaining intact. This isn’t the only tribute that Disney+ have pulled from their shows recently, though - they also took out one in memory of Reg E. Cathey, who played Reverend James Lucas in Luke Cage, from that show’s season two finale. There’s been no official comment about that, either, but the show’s creator, Cheo Hodari Coker, tweeted out his disappointment over the removal.
“I mean, why do this? Reg E Cathey was part of the heart and soul of Season Two,” he wrote. “We didn't feel obligated to dedicate the season to him just because he died - we felt obligated because we loved him and he was a galvanising force.”
Marvel fans recently spotted that parts of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had also been given the family-friendly treatment, with the removal of blood, and violence toned down a noticeable notch. However, IGN report that apparently, the wrong file has been published, and the original, bloody, non-censored version will be restored some time soon.
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There’s currently no word on whether the removal of Stan Lee’s tribute in The Punisher could be some similar error - it seems a bit bizarre to pull it all these years on, even with the controversy it sparked at the time. Fans aren't too happy, anyway - whether Disney will act on this even if it wasn't a mistake is yet to be seen.
Topics: TV And Film, Disney, Marvel