Before Jon Bernthal made his mark in the Netflix Marvel universe as The Punisher, Thomas Jane brought Frank Castle to life. While the 2004 film Jane was in didn’t receive great feedback, people did enjoy Jane’s performance. It’s been a long time since he’s been the beloved anti-hero, but Jane has expressed interest in directing a Punisher film, starring Jon Bernthal.
“That would be a fan thing. If the fans really wanted me back, and we could find a script. See, I think the Punisher, and the reason why I did the short, was that it hasn’t fully been cracked in a way that fully honors the character, Frank Castle, in a film. And I love what Bernthal did on Netflix. I think he’s such a great Punisher. In fact, I would love to direct a Punisher starring Bernthal, because he’s such a great actor.”
Jane also mentioned he was interested in returning as the Punisher:
“Now, if the fans wanted me to come back and play Frank, and the script was something, and when we found a director and a script where we really felt that we could put a stamp on this character, there is so much to that Frank Castle and the Punisher, and his world. We couldn’t make a dark film when we did Punisher in 2004. We couldn’t go as dark because people just hadn’t trusted, on the production side, that fans would be into that. But, now we’ve got shows like The Boys and, of course, The Dark Knight came out after The Punisher, where I think that producers and studios are now aware that there’s a real audience for the darkness, the Taxi Driver-esque quality that you could pull out of a Frank Castle, and that hasn’t been done. And I would love to do that. But again, we have to take it to a place where, frankly, The Punisher has always wanted to go.”
Jon Bernthal back? Thomas Jane directing? I’m game – are you?
Source: ComicBook
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