So, who’s excited?

Tomb Raider, a reboot starring Alicia Vikander, and Marvel’s The Punisher, the next Marvel/Netflix work to be added to their Defenders chronicle starring Jon Bernthal.

Let’s take a look!

First up, Tomb Raider.

I have to say, I like what I see!

It looks like they’re following the lead of the video game reboot, with Lara heading to an island, getting stranded there or something in a storm, and dealing with very hostile parties. I swear, I recognize some scenery and sequences, including the run-and-jump off the sinking ship, the woods, the ravine and the river… or maybe that’s just my mind playing tricks on me. Either way, this looks really packed with action, danger, and thrills.

They also clearly have puzzles, so it looks like we’ll be seeing this version of Lara using her crafty brain more than we did in the previous movies.

And can I just say, when playing a character that has previously been played by Angelina Jolie, it doesn’t matter who said character is, that is a big act to follow. But it looks like Alicia Vikander is up for it! She’s fit, very well-suited for the action, and carries herself with an easy physical confidence. When she’s solving a puzzle, she isn’t just staring at it, she really looks like she’s figuring it out. The way she behaves and speaks indicates Lara’s strength alongside an emotional vulnerability as she inherits her father’s quest. Not bad! I do believe she just might succeed in making the role of Lara Croft her own!

As for what we can tell about the plot, it looks like Lara returns from somewhere after a long time, complete with the stereotypical, “I am returning to my company” scene with the secretary. There’s something her father, likely murdered, left behind for her: a puzzle that hides a key to a secret lair. And if that woman talking to her isn’t part of this “Trinity” organization he talks about, I will be very surprised. Either way, she goes to finish her father’s mission: to close “the tomb for the Mother of Death.” (…yeah, that’s not a foreboding title at all!) Trinity seems to want to open the tomb, maybe to try and harness her power like a bunch of idiots, but either way, Lara goes to the island and gets in their way.

This should be fun!

And for our second trailer, for Punisher.

…right, I’m just going to say, this looks to be far and away the single bloodiest and most violent show yet produced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For one thing, they’re actually using guns this time!

I already know Jon Bernthal can do the Punisher, courtesy of his role in Daredevil‘s second season. That had its pros and cons, it kind of cluttered and slowed things down even when it was driving things forward. Hopefully his series will be completely unfettered on its own.

This looks like they’re taking the character and pushing his further and further. Haunted by the ghosts of his wife and daughter, who were so cruelly stolen from him by the people he trusted the most.

He’s obviously a one-man army up against a more numerous army, and it seems to be some kind of conspiracy commanded from within the CIA or something? Maybe that’s a misdirect, or maybe not.

Karen Paige at least makes an appearance. She’s become the Lois Lane of this corner of the MCU, I think, always in trouble, not a mess she’s not caught up in somehow.

Looks like the Punisher will be getting some help, though I wonder what sort of help that’ll be. He’s certainly got a lot on his plate, and probably needs all the help he can get. …then again, maybe not. He seems to be going through his enemies like a hot knife through butter.

I’m excited for this show, but also a little hesitant. I know I liked Logan a whole lot, and Deadpool, and Kingsman, but I am still cautious about the blood and violence, and Marvel has not been particularly restrained with that in Netflix. I remember a moment in Jessica Jones that shocked me, and if this is the most brutal show yet… hmm. I am probably going to watch it, but I am still reconsidering.